Holding Out For a Hero
by tehsecretardor
Summary: After the release of Endless, Elie awakens to find herself captured by Lucia and with no hope of escape. Lucia/Elie Implied Haru/Elie SPOILERS ALERT.
1. Chapter 1: The Wicked Truth

Holding Out For a Hero

Summary: After the release of Endless, Elie awakens to find herself captured by Lucia and with no hope of escape. Lucia/Elie Implied Haru/Elie SPOILERS ALERT.

~x~

Author's Note: HI EVERYONE! :D I'm sorry I keep disappearing off the earth and then just randomly reappearing! School has been CRAZY. So much has happened the last couple months, both between my life and the lives of those around me… So, yeah. I haven't been writing too much, but I'm going to do what I can to FINISH THIS ONE!  
>See…with the Love And Loss, I just could not write it. It became virtually impossible, and whenever I tried, I just fell into this deep sadness and so I couldn't…I'm really sorry! T~T<br>But, I actually had this one sort-of requested from a reviewer. A lot of people have noticed that there is almost no Lucia/Elie stories out there, except for my little one shot. So, I guess I'm going to break that! I've actually had this idea in my head for a long time, but now I think I actually have the skill to make it happen! :D  
>ENJOY~~~<p>

~x~

**Chapter One: The Wicked Truth**

Never before had Haru felt such an excruciating amount of pain. It seemed to radiate off of him, threatening to infect anyone that came too close. Not even the fight with Doryu had left him with such severe injuries! At least with Doryu, he had died and that had taken care of the worst of the injuries. Not only was he fully alive, but he was completely awake.

That just made the pain even worse. He was alive. He was awake. So why had he not been able to stop Lucia from snatching up Elie in the last seconds of the battle? That stupid lion thing – he hadn't cared enough to catch his name – had landed right between Haru and Elie and distracted the Rave Master while that weasel of a man sneaked her onto the flying chariot. By the time Haru had realized what had happened, they were in the sky.

To make matters worse, when he had chased after them, he found his body too weak. Rave was like a steroid without the negative effects; it gave him an incredible power and stamina boost, but even Rave could wear out. It might have been made a Goddess in human form – that was what he secretly called Resha – but even Goddesses were not infallible.

A soft moan of pain escaped his lips as Grandpa pressed another herb down on his leg. The herbs were great healers, but they stung like nothing else for a while before the process began. He was having his entire body covered with this disgusting green mush, which would most likely render him incapable of doing anything for quite some time. And, while he was being a useless idiot, Elie was in Lucia's clutches.

"Damn it!" he screamed, "Damn it, damn it, damn it!" He was tired of lying around! Elie needed him! "How long do I have lay like this? Lucia has Elie, and I need to save her!"

Musica appeared beside him, smelling of herbs and medicine from when he had been tending to Shuda. "You'll get up when you can stand, you idiot," said the silverclaimer testily. He had been in a perpetually bad mood ever since Reina had died, but Haru was not in any sort of mood for sympathy. "If you try to go after her now, what will happen? You'll get there, and Lucia will tear you to shreds! Then what good will you be?"

"Shut up!" screamed Haru angrily. He didn't want to hear this. "Elie needs me!" Musica sighed and pressed his fingers to his temples. "You would do the same thing for Reina."

No words needed to be said for Haru to understand that he had gone too far. A vein bulged out of his best friends' temple, and he opened his eyes only to give him a look of utter disgust. Haru sighed, letting his head drop down against the ground. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that," he muttered, genuinely sorry. He wished Let was here; Let was the only real rock of sanity they had in times like this. _Ah, but Let went chasing after his Julia,_ he reminded himself bitterly. Everyone else was allowed to chase after the one they loved, but Haru wasn't even allowed to chase after Elie!

"Haru," said Musica softly, his expression softening, "I know you want to go after Elie. If I thought I could take down Lucia and that lion, I'd go after him right now and bring Elie back. We just aren't strong enough to take them. Especially not in your current state. If we want to get her back, we're going to have to wait until you're a lot more healed."

The blond shut his eyes tightly, but even that could not stop tears from forming in his eyes. He had promised to protect Elie, no matter what the cost, and he had _failed_. He didn't even care that he had lost to Lucia. The fact that he had failed Elie meant more to him than anything else in the entire world.

"I failed her," he whimpered. Grandpa had vanished, leaving Musica and Haru alone to talk. Musica sat next to him with his arms crossed and atop his knees. "I promised her I'd keep her safe, and I fucking failed her!"

Haru began to thrash, and Musica did not stop him. Finally, he whacked over the chair that Grandpa had been using to grind the herbs and he curled himself into a fetal position. Tears fell from his eyes like he was trying to fill an empty river. Always, Haru had been optimistic. He had let nothing deter him from his goal, and never once had he ever thought, not even for a second, that he would be unable to reach that goal.

However, losing Elie changed something in him. That determination suddenly snapped into pieces and a hopelessness that Haru was not familiar with flooded into his body. Elie made everything worth it. He could never have come this far without her by his side. When she had gone running out to meet who she thought was Sieg Hart, he felt his soul go with her. He wanted her to be safe, yes, but he could never imagine asking her to stay behind. It was selfish, but he was willing to put her in danger so long as she was with him. He knew that she would get hurt, it was inevitable. That was something he had learned during that last fight with Shuda. He could not protect her from everything, no matter how much he wanted to. But this…this was too much!

"Are you done yet?" snapped Musica, breaking through Haru's sobs. The blond looked up in shock, and saw his best friend standing up and glowering down at him. "Jesus Christ, man, pull yourself together!"

"Huh?"

"You heard me! Elie's with Lucia. So fucking what?" he demanded in repugnance, "Once you heal up, we're going to go after her, aren't we? But if you're going to spend the entire time whining about how you 'failed' her and all that bullshit, you aren't coming along. Elie deserves to be saved by the Rave Master, not some little brat."

Under any other circumstance, that would have enraged Haru. This time, however, he simply could not muster up the energy for such an emotion. He stared up at his friend for a few seconds as his words began to take their place in his heart. Whatever had snapped into pieces slowly melded back together and reformed, stronger than ever.

He was right. Elie deserved to be saved by the Rave Master, not a cry baby. He smiled once and wiped away the tears from his cheeks. "You're right," he agreed firmly. Musica continued to look down at him, not impressed. "I'm going to get better. And, as soon as I do? We're going to find the last Rave. And then, we're going to go find Elie."

"Why not do it in the opposite order?"

Haru smirked and closed his eyes as fatigue began to wash over him. "Because I need to be stronger. I'll never be able to defeat Lucia without the last Rave. So, we're going to find it. And then I'm going to defeat Lucia. Once and for all." It was the only thing that Haru could think about as he drifted off. He wasn't sure, but he thought that he heard Musica chuckle slightly in approval, but before he could open his eyes and see for himself, he felt his consciousness slowly slip away from him and he was engulfed in the endless void of sleep.

* * *

><p>"Haru! Haru! Haru!" screamed Elie as loud as she could, struggling against the bonds that held her in place. She had no idea where she was, why she was here, and who on earth put her there. In fact, all the brunette was aware of was the overwhelming stench of body-odor, leading her to believe that she had been chained to this wall for quite some time. Her arms were placed above her head in a position that hurt more to move than keep still while her ankles had plenty of leeway to move about. Not that standing would do her any good; the manacles were too strong for her to attempt breaking and they were already beginning to cut her wrists open.<p>

Still, that did not deter her from struggling. Elie wanted to get out of here. She wanted Haru to come bursting through the door and tell her that she was safe now, that he would break these chains and they would fly away magically into the sunset…

Okay, maybe it had been a little too long without food or water.

Just as the brunette was about to continue her desperate cries, the door slammed open. Light poured into the room – at that moment, Elie realized that her current prison was incredibly dark and that her eyes had adjusted to it without her realization – and she crammed her eyes shut as it blinded her temporarily.

"Hello, Elie."

Immediately, Elie felt chills dance down her spine. It was the one voice that she never wanted to hear; filled with enough malice and darkness to serve as a black hole. The brunette allowed one eye to peek open and found his silhouette in the doorway. His form wasn't as bulky as Elie remembered, but he was still as muscled and menacing as ever. "What have you done to my friends?" she demanded, slowly opening both eyes.

Lucia's cruel laughter echoed around the room, causing the brunette to scoop closer to the wall; even the cold stone was more comforting than Lucia could ever hope to be. "I have done nothing. Besides, of course, all of what I did back at Star Vestige," he replied slyly. Elie glared at his shadow, trying to wrap her mind around what he was saying. The lack of food and water was beginning to affect her, causing her mind to go foggy and her tongue to grow heavy and dry.

"You liar!" accused Elie as loudly as she could. Her voice was weak from all the screaming she had been doing, but she would not allow any weakness to be shown. She had to be strong so that he would not harm her.

"I am not so worthless as to lie to my prisoner," spat Lucia in detest. He stepped towards her slowly, and Elie noticed that there was a slight limp to his step. The closer he got to her, the more his form morphed from a shadow and into the actual human – if he even had enough soul left in him to be called a human. "You have been unconscious for some time, child of Etherion," he said softly as he knelt down in front of her. Again, Elie scooted as far away from as she could. The action was not missed by Lucia, who smirked and leaned in ever so slightly. "Tell me all you know about 'Endless'."

The brunette glared at him, tempted to spit in his face yet not brave enough to dare. "I don't know what you're talking about!" she cried, squirming as one of his hands gently began to stroke her arm.

The blond leaned in, his eyes filled with amusement and a sort of gravity that sent more shivers down her spine. "You are the one that named it," he said slowly, "You called him The King of Stellar Memories. Tell me what you meant."

"I didn't say that."

Elie continued to glare at him, but it was beginning to weaken as his anger began to grow. "You lie," he whispered into her ear. Those two words were like ice being dropped onto her head, but he did not give her enough time to process them fully before he punched her across the jaw. "Tell me the truth!"

"I don't know!" screamed Elie frantically, breathing heavily. Lucia stood up slowly, towering over her. "I don't remember anything after that bright light!"

"You are useless," spat Lucia angrily, turning away. "Do not think that you are off the hook yet, Elie. I will be back, and you _will_ begin talking."

With that said, the door that he came from slammed shut and Elie was alone again. Before she could stop it, her body began to convulse as hysteria took over. Her breathing became ragged and no amount of air she took in seemed to be enough. For the first time, raw fear gripped her and she came to realize exactly what her situation was; she was completely and utterly alone, trapped inside Demon Card's headquarters with Lucia as her captor.

Did Haru even know where Demon Card's new headquarters _were_? Where had he been the last few days? Didn't he care that Lucia had taken her?

"Haru," she sobbed, tears freefalling from her eyes relentlessly. There were no windows in her cell, so she had no bearing of what time it was, but her body was exhausted. Besides, sleep would take her mind off of the hunger that gripped her stomach…

With some effort, she controlled her breathing and even managed to lessen the flow of tears. Elie forced her eyes to stay closed as she entered her own endless void of sleep.

~x~

Author's Note: Okay, so it's a little shorter than usual. :o But, it'll get more interesting, I promise! Don't give up on me yet, okay?  
>Also, the chapters are going to be split up between what Haru's doing and what Elie's doing. Like, one chapter for Haru and the next for Elie and then the one after that for Haru and so on. Just figured I'd let ya' know. :3 I hope you enjoyed!<p> 


	2. Chapter 2: The Rave Master Recovers

Holding Out For a Hero

~x~

Author's Note: I'm sorry that this has taken so long. :o I realized that I was a little rusty with all the details of what happens after Endless appears, so I decided to reread the part, but I didn't want to just jump in the middle, so I reread the entire series. :D

~x~

**Chapter One: The Rave Master Recovers**

"Argh!"

Panic danced through his bloodstream like a bad tango, forcing Haru's back to lift and become erect. He sat sitting straight up on a thin sleeping pad, doused in a cold sweat and shaking. Tears dotted the corners of his eyes as he leaned forward and clutched his head with both hands, trying to banish the nightmare that he had been having since he had told Musica of his plans.

Each night was exactly like the last. Haru would toss and turn for a few hours and then he'd suddenly be out cold…that was when the nightmare began. Now, Haru Glory had only had a few nightmares in his life; one after his father left – or so he had been told; he didn't actually remember this one, but it was one of those 'cute' little memories Cattleya often spoke of – one after his mother's body returned to Garage Island, one after his father died, and those strange dreams of Resha.

This was different. It would start with Haru and Elie sitting on the edge of a dreamy pond, talking about things that Haru could not remember. She would laugh at some witty comment he had made, and then Haru would lean in just a tad closer, his hand placed gently atop hers. They would both freeze and make eye contact for just a split second before they began to lean in together. Their lips were just a fraction of a centimeter away when it would happen; an earthquake. Elie would go flying backwards, out of reach of Haru's desperate hands. They would each scream each other's names out in a vain attempt to be heard, but the noise was too great and the voices were quickly lost.

Just as Haru would get his bearings and be able to stand, the Ninth Form of The Ten Commandments would drop in front of him. And then, without fail, it would say these words to him: "I can help you get Elie…Use me, and I shall show you the way…" Haru would take the sword with his right hand and charge forward, but instead of just using it to pave a path to his best friend, he would jump in the air and…

Stab Elie right in the heart.

That was when he would awake in terror and anguish with a scream that seemed to be from both his nightmare and his waking mouth; yet no one ever stirred. It was always during the night when the nightmare would end, giving Haru the perfect opportunity to either curl up in a ball and sob or go for a walk and try to control his emotions.

Tonight, he chose the latter. Throwing the covers off of his bandaged body, the Rave Master stormed off without so much as a glance at his sword. He followed a path he noticed earlier that led to a spring, but continued on past the spring and to a high cliff. It was much like the one back home where his mother was buried, but it looked out over a river and not the ocean.

As soon as he stopped moving, pain gripped his right hand. It began to contort like a muscle cramp, but the pain was so intense that the Rave Master fell to his knees. "A-ah," he moaned, grabbing his arm as the spasm slowly raced up his arm. It lasted only for a few seconds, but the attack left him breathless and with a new sheen of sweat on his body. Defeated, Haru collapsed onto the ground and rolled over so that he could see the stars.

"Puun?"

Haru didn't need to look to know that Plue had followed him. He usually did. "Hey, buddy," he said softly, not taking his eyes off the sky. The stars reminded him of the twinkle of Elie's beautiful brown eyes…

"Gah!" he cried, shutting his eyes tightly and shaking his head. "I need to focus, damn it!"

Plue cocked his head to the side as he watched, shaking as always. "Puun?" he asked again, plopping down on the ground next to him. Not in the mood to talk, Haru didn't bother with a response. Plue sat with him in silence, gently placing a paw on his arm. "Puun."

The Rave Master looked down at him and sighed. "We already tried that," he whispered, picking the dog up and holding him in front of him. "It's just as bad as ever."

"Puun! Pu-puun!" cried Plue in denial, shaking his head like crazy. Fearing that the motion would set off another attack in his arm, Haru set him down and watched him try to heal it the way that he had healed Shiba back on Garage.

Haru did not stop him. He knew that the Rave bearer wanted to fix his arm so that he'd be able to fight again. He had tried for hours after they started moving towards Ribeyla Village, but nothing held any results. Finally, the little collapsed next to him and stared at him sadly. "I know, I know," muttered Haru softly, spreading his arms out and falling onto his back. "I'm never using the Ninth Form again, I promise."

The two sat like that together and watched the sky turn from the deepest shade of blue into a gentler color. However, it wasn't until Plue had started to snore that the blond picked him up and carried him back to camp so that he could once more wrestle with the sheets and pray for a restless sleep.

Haru had only been asleep for a few hours when he was gently prodded awake by Gramps. The group packed in silence and was on the road again within the hour. The last several days had carried on in this manner, with only occasional moments of conversation; none of which Haru had participated in. He had no energy to keep up with the rare moments of silliness Griff, Ruby, Plue, Bony and Lazenby had. Musica and Shuda kept to themselves, and even Gramps seemed to have a cloud hanging over him.

Finally, just after they had stopped for lunch that changed. "Ahem," said the Rave of Destiny from the small pouch that Haru kept it in. It was immediately brought forward and placed in the middle of a circle they formed around it. The last time Saga had spoken to them, he had scolded them for allowing Lucia to take Elie and Haru found that he was not in the mood to undergo another lecture. "You are traveling to Ribeyla, yes?"

"That's the plan," replied Griff immediately, pulling a map out of nowhere and showing it to everyone. "Why?"

"I see. I just wanted to make sure you were all on the right track," said the Rave stone softly. "Be warned – there is much trouble brewing for you when you arrive."

Haru stared at the Rave stone, but he didn't bother trying to get a clearer answer out of him. He knew that the sage would not give away any substantial details anyways, so instead he just put it carefully back in the pouch. "I wonder what he meant," Musica said thoughtfully, taking a long drag from a skinny cigarette.

"Perhaps Demon Card is there?" suggested Shuda gravely, lacing his fingers together and placing his elbows on his knees. "We can't possibly know until we arrive."

Haru rose and stretched. "Whatever it is," he said, speaking for the first time since he and Plue had watched the sky, "I'm sure it'll be nothing we can't handle." The others stared at him, but the Rave Master only gave them his confident smirk and pounded a fist against his chest. "I will never lose again. Not to Demon Card or any other bad guy we come across. And never, _never_, will I lose to Lucia again."

After a few tense seconds, the group broke out into a small cheer. Musica stood with him and whacked him on the back. "There's the Haru we know," he said happily. "Welcome back, brat."

Even Haru was unsure of what just came over him. The very idea of danger approaching had set off a chain explosion of sadness, anger, hope, and then determination inside of him that felt both familiar and entirely fresh. Whatever it was that was coming up, Haru was ready for it.

* * *

><p>"What's the Dancing Contest, poyo?"<p>

"It's an annual celebration that the people here partake in," explained Shuda with a sort of reverence. "I would have suggested that we enter a pair in, but I don't think that'll be possible now that we do not have a female partner."

Haru stared at the welcome sign, wondering if Elie would have wanted to enter had she been with them. "Is there a prize, poyo?" asked Ruby, looking around the town. It was incredibly small, but bustling with a mingle of tourists and locals.

Shuda sighed. "The first prize winner receives one million Edels," he finally said. There was a strange way he seemed to say it, but after a few seconds of consideration, Haru and Musica met each other's glances and silently headed into town together. Lazenby and Gramps had gone ahead to reserve rooms, leaving the others free to do as they wished until nighttime.

"I wonder what sorta trouble's waitin' for us," said Musica softly, glancing around. Haru shrugged, but he kept his eyes and ears open. "Can't be Lucia. There's no way he recovered faster than you, and he was beaten down worse than you were."

Haru nodded, remembering with satisfaction the brutal beat down he had given that blond bastard. "Right. And we took out Oni and Doryu, so it can't be them," he added, scratching his chin in contemplation. "Maybe it's another group we haven't met before? I doubt that those were the only big ones."

"That's true," admitted the silverclaimer, lighting up another cigarette. "Guess we better lay low until trouble rears its ugly head, huh?"

Before the Rave Master had time to agree, a man can running passed them, nearly knocking Haru over. "Hey!" he called in annoyance, watching as the man grabbed an older lady's purse and continued to run off. "Geez. Even in a tiny little town like this, you still got those few jerks," he muttered, chasing after him. Musica followed him closely, but before either of them had a chance to draw their weapons, a woman stepped in between them and stopped them. Her face was covered by an old fashioned helmet, but her outfit showed off her impressive figure, making it obvious of her gender. "Oi! What's the hold up?" demanded Haru, his hand on the handle of his blade.

The woman smirked, placing a hand on her hip. Around them, Shuda and the others had joined them in gathering around the incident. "Just stopping you from doing something stupid," she said. Her voice was smooth and controlled, but it was filled with amusement and a dash of arrogance. "Did you miss what my partner was doing?"

"Huh?"

Behind her was another masked man with the thief held up by the front of his shirt. No part of his face visible, but there was something very oddly familiar about him. "I didn't want you to accidentally kill him in the flight," explained the woman as if it was obvious.

Haru gritted his teeth together, feeling his testy temper rising. "Like I woulda killed him," he snapped, crossing his arms against his chest. "Who are you guys, anyways?"

"We are the future victors of this years Dance Competition – the Drake Rhapsody!" _(A/N: This is the name used in the scanlations I read; if the actual published manga has something different, please let me know!)_

"Yeah right!" cried someone from the audience. All years turned to find the speaker, but he seemed invisible. "You could be the best dancers around and I'd _still_ wipe the floor with you!"

A man stepped out from behind a tree, smirking happily. At the sound of his voice, Haru perked up. "Branch?" he said under his breath, staring intently at the man. There was no mistaking that oddly squared off face and that absolutely _ridiculously_ shaped nose.

He stepped closer, followed by a young girl with long pink hair. Whereas Branch looked arrogant and smooth, she was not smiling and seemed rather on edge. "I saw you two practicing the other day," he continued in that distinct Garage Island drawl. "Your dance moves are impressive, but you are no match for our Demon Love group!"

"Hey, Branch?" asked Haru softly, clenching his fists tightly against his palm. Branch turned to face him, his eyes blank and calm for a split second before transforming almost instantly into fear and panic. "You piece of crap!" His temper getting the best of him, Haru flung himself forward with his fist raised. Before he could very far, Musica wrapped his arm around his best friend's chest and kept him in place.

"Have you lost your mind?"

In shock at Haru's sudden attack, Branch fell backwards onto the ground. "Ha-Haru? What are you doing here?" he stammered, one hand raised to defend his face in case he was attacked.

"You're still as arrogant as you were all those years ago," the Rave Master said contemptuously, not making any other motions to attack him as Musica released him.

"Dude, chill out!" Musica said, staring at him in complete confusion. "First off, just tell us who this guy is."

"An asshole!"

While they had been talking, the Drake Rhapsody had disappeared and Shuda had ushered the crowd away, giving them at least a bit of privacy. "Wow. I can't believe Haru just called someone an asshole," commented Griff in shock, staring at Branch, who was finally picking himself off the ground.

"He used to live on Garage Island. And…he dated my sister!"

"No way!" exclaimed Musica, his jaw dropping.

Branch turned to his companion and shook his head. "D-don't believe him, Belnika!" he cried. "I would never live in such a disgusting place like that!"

This time, it took both Musica and all of the creatures to hold Haru back. "Shut your mouth!" he cried, feeling his anger rising. All those bad feelings he had been feeling since Elie's kidnapping were bubbling to the surface, threatening to let loose onto Branch.

The man cowered back, but once he saw he wasn't in any danger, he danced in front of him. "Maybe you should be learn to be more civilized," he said mockingly. Before the Rave Master could react, he danced off. "Nika! Come!" he called once he was a safe distance away, turning back and waving to the girl.

She stared at them for a few seconds and then stepped closer. "I don't care if you have some feud," she said very softly, moving just close enough to be heard, "But don't go against Branch. He doesn't look like one, but he's a Demon Card Captain." She had already turned away and went to follow Branch, leaving the others stunned.

"Branch is Demon Card?" repeated Haru dumbly, staring at the back of his head. The world around him disappeared, leaving only the man dancing away from him. Voices floated in his head from beyond his trance, but he paid them no heed.

If Branch was a Demon Card Captain, then surely he _must_ know the whereabouts of the new headquarters. And, where else would Lucia have taken Elie but the headquarters?

"Branch!" he screamed, darting forward. No one tried to stop him, too preoccupied with their own thoughts, leaving Haru free to pursue his sisters ex-boyfriend. As soon as he realized that Haru was chasing him, Branch stopped dancing and began to sprint away as fast as he could. "Branch, get back here! Stop running!"

"You're still chasing me!" replied the captain breathlessly.

"Only 'cause you're running from me!" Haru shouted desperately. However, it didn't take long for Branch to disappear in a small crowd, leaving Haru far behind in the dust. Panting, he collapsed onto his knees and punched the ground. "Damn it, that bastard learned how to run!" he snapped.

Musica slowed to a stop next to him, keeling over slightly to catch his breath. "Why did you chase after him? He's our enemy," he asked once he caught his breath, lighting up a cigarette. "Shouldn't you just hate him even more for it?"

Haru sighed, looking down at the ground. "It's not that," he said. "He probably knows where the headquarters are, and since that's probably where Elie is, I figured I could catch him and get the location out of him." A slight chill went up both of their backs, leaving them just as breathless as before. "I guess I'll have to wait until after the competition to talk to him."

"You heard Saga," said Musica slowly. "Something's going to happen right here. Even if we got the location out of Branch, it isn't like we could just skip off and find her."

The Rave Master stood, massaging his arm. "I know that. I just want to know where she is," he explained softly, unable to meet his best friends' gaze. "That way we can just head there as soon as we get the last Rave and not have to go looking for some Demon Card member to tell us."

Musica put a hand on his shoulder. "We'll talk to him later," he said gently. "Come on. Let's find the others and get something to eat, okay?"

Before he could refuse and continue going after Branch, Haru felt his stomach rumble loudly. "Yeah," he finally admitted with a laugh. The silverclaimer gave him a smirk, waiting for him to take the lead before heading back towards where the others had told him they'd be.

_Soon, Elie,_ thought Haru as he walked with Musica, _I'm going to come and find you as soon as I can, okay? Just hold tight. Stay strong…I'll be there when I can, I promise!_

~x~

Author's Note: Okay, so it's decided; Haru's chapters are going to be the tough ones to write…Hm. Well, oh well. I'll get the hang of it eventually. :D  
>I'm sorry if this chapter is a little boring…it'll get more interesting as they start getting into battles and all that. It's probably going to be Elie's chapters that get the attention…<br>MEH.  
>:D<br>I actually reread the entire manga just for this chapter. x3 Not that I'm complaining. Just explaining why it took me so long.  
>This was actually completed on 2603/2012, but I decided not to post it until I completed the next chapter. That's how I'm going to update things. Just to stay a chapter ahead. :D  
>ANYWAYS, I hope you all enjoyed!<br>Haben Sie einen guten Abend! Oder, Tag. Unabhängig davon, welche es ist für Sie!  
>Whoever can translate that gets a cookie. :D<p> 


	3. Chapter 3: Sweet Fruit

Holding Out For a Hero

~x~

Author's Note: Oh boy, a new chapter!

~x~

**Chapter Three: Sweet Fruit**

Elie had no idea how much time had passed. No one had come to see her since Lucia's visit, not even to deliver food or water. She was rarely awake, choosing the nightmares that sleep brought over the horrors of the time she spent awake. However, when she was awake and could not ignore the pains long enough to drift into her uneasy sleep, she experimented with the chains.

She found that she could stand, albeit uncomfortably, and she could extend her legs out completely before the chains stopped her. Her arms had long since gone numb from lack of blood use, but she could still twitch her fingers and feel the blood moving. She was completely blind in this cell, which gave her ears and nose an extra boost; not that there was much for her to hear or smell. Her body was in desperate need of a wash, but even that had faded into the background after some time. Thankfully, there seemed to be no critters wandering around the cell, so that wasn't an issue either.

The time passed in a monotonous fashion; she woke up, stretched as much as she could, twitched her hands and fingers to keep blood moving, and then found a comfortable position to fall back asleep.

At the very least, she wasn't bothered by Lucia or any other Demon Card official. Though, it would have been nice for a few pieces of food here and there.

* * *

><p>One day, while Elie was in the process of falling asleep, she heard something. It did not sound like her own weak limbs dragging against the rock floor, nor did it sound like the clinging of the chains. It sounded almost like…a set of footsteps?<p>

"H-hey," rasped Elie. Her lips cracks almost instantly, and for the first time since she had woken up, Elie felt her tongue come in contact with something warm and liquidy. Okay, so it was blood; but, hey, anything was better than nothing. "Hey!"

Much to her surprise, the door slowly swung open. The light was so intense, that Elie had to shut her eyes and look away. When spots no longer danced behind her eyelids, the brunette slowly cracked them open and tested what she could handle by how close to the open door she could look without flinching.

It took her roughly thirty seconds before she could finally stare straight at the silhouette in full. "Who are you?"

It was the figure out a young girl with incredibly poufy hair. Several other figures were behind her, and Elie guessed that they were soldiers sent to protect the female in case Elie were to attack. Attack? She could hardly hold her head up, let alone try to break free through force!

"I was sent by Lord Lucia to release you and bring you to him," replied the female, stepping in close to her. She stepped out of the light pouring into the room, giving Elie a chance to examine her.

She appeared to be roughly her age with a strange marking going down her cheek and binoculars around her neck. "Why?" asked Elie as strongly as she could manage as the woman pulled out a small key from her pocket.

"It is not my place to question Lord Lucia's orders," replied the woman stoically. In mere seconds, Elie's arms dropped from their position and hit the cold floor next to her with a dull thud. Immediately, blood began to pump through them and sent tingling sensations from her shoulders to her fingertips. It felt so nice to have her arms free again! However, when she tried to lift them up again, she found that they did not have the strength to even extend outwards.

Another few seconds and her ankles were free as well. "First, I'm going to take you to a spare room in the castle. It used to belong to Reina, but now that she's been killed, Lord Lucia decided that you should have it," said the woman as she grabbed her numb arm and slung it over her shoulder.

Elie did not struggle against her, knowing full well that she would not be able to walk on her own. The only time she so much as flinched was when something brushed against the raw parts of her wrists and ankles. "Why?"

"I already told you, it isn't my place to question Lucia's authority," snapped the woman briskly, leading her towards the hallway. "All he said was that I was to take you to Reina's old chambers and report back to him once I had," she said in a gentler tone. As they neared the light, Elie's thoughts on the men were confirmed; guards.

The hallway itself was, through dark and rather scary, incredibly ornate. A long plush, red carpet went down the entire hallway. There were thick wooden doors similar to the one to Elie's cage that lined the wall, but the entire place was eerily silent. The woman half-dragged and half-supported Elie down the long corridor, and even helped to carry her up the stairs that it ended at.

"Will I…get food?"

The question appeared out of nowhere halfway through their trek to Reina's old room. No one had spoken since they had gotten upstairs, not even passing soldiers in the hallway. "I would imagine so, yeah," replied the woman. "Have they…have they not fed you?"

Elie weakly shook her head, feeling what little strength she had retained throughout the ordeal begin to ebb away as she tried to walk. "What? You've been down there a week, and you haven't had anything to eat? What about water?" Elie thought about it hard, and vaguely recalled a man in dark armor appearing in her dreams to give her water. Perhaps that wasn't entirely a dream? "That's unbelievable. What could Lord Lucia possibly have expected to gain from such treatment…" she asked aloud, shaking her head in disapproval.

Finally, after an eternity, they stopped at a set of wide double doors. "Here it is," she said, nodding towards the door. A guard stepped forward and opened it for her, bowing slightly. "Thank you. You are dismissed," she said with another nod. Immediately, the soldiers vanished. "There should be a platter of fruit or something in there. Go ahead and take as much as you'd like. The door will be locked from the outside, so don't even think of trying to run off."

_Run off? I can hardly stand on my own!_ thought Elie spitefully, however the lure of food was too great to be snippy externally. "I think I can make it," she said weakly, slowly pulling her aching arm free. Her body had slowly regained all its feeling, so even though she was still weak with hunger, the brunette had felt her legs strengthen slightly. "Thank you for helping me."

Nervously, Elie took a step forward. Her body was definitely weak, sagging under the weight that she still had left to carry, but she did not sway. Regaining her confidence, the brunette lifted her eyes straight ahead and surveyed the room, however, the only real object she saw was the basket of fruit sitting on a small chest at the foot of the bed. Elie stumbled towards it, feeling her mouth watering just from the mere image.

When she reached it, she collapsed onto her knees and grabbed a large, red apple from the basket. Wasting no time, the brunette sunk her ravenous teeth into its casing. Cool juice flooded into her mouth and ignited every taste bud she had. Deep in the back of her mind, Elie knew that she should take it easy and not eat too fast, but for those first several bites, she didn't care. Once she stopped to take a breath, she began to eat it more sensibly, savoring each bite as she chewed it and eating the fruit all the way down to the core.

The core dropped from her hands as she pulled herself into a sitting position. One apple couldn't restore all the strength that she had lost, but it did help her a great deal. No longer did her limbs quiver and scream for some amount of sustenance more than a few ladles of water. An exhausted laugh escaped her lungs and she closed her eyes and let her head hit the bed behind her.

_What will I do now? I've been gone a week…I wonder how the others are doing. Are they even looking for me? Of course they are! Haru wouldn't just leave me here. I just have to be patient…obviously, Lucia doesn't want me dead, otherwise he would have killed me by now. I'll just play along and regain some strength and then when the others get here, I can help them out!_

With those happy thoughts, the brunette rose to her feet. Now that she was outside of that wretched cell, the stink of body odor was overwhelming, and Elie simply could not stand it any longer. As quickly as she dared, she headed to the dressers and began to rifle through them. None of the outfits that she saw looked like they'd have fit Reina's impressive figure, much to her surprise. _Did someone come in here and get rid of all her clothes?_ she asked herself as she finally pulled out a t-shirt and a pair of pants – normally, she'd have found a skirt, but no way was she wandering around Lucia's castle like that – and began to search for a bathroom.

It only took her a moment of observation to see it; a small doorway with the word 'restroom' written on it in curvy letters. In just a few moments, Elie was stepping into a hot shower and watching as the dirt ran off her body and down the drain.

Without a doubt, it was the single best shower that Elie had ever experienced.

She lingered underneath the water for some time after she had cleaned herself off, trying to examine her thin body. She had always been skinny, but now she could see the sharp points of her bones beginning to jut out. She hadn't lost an extreme amount of weight, but there was definitely a noticeable difference in her appearance. Even her chest had shrunk, much to her despair.

Finally, when the water had begun to turn cold, she climbed out and wrapped her body up in a fluffy towel. The entire bathroom was filled with steam, and there was something oddly comforting about it. Perhaps if she stayed hidden in the fog, Lucia would leave her alone and she could simply bide her time in her bedroom until Haru and the others got here…

Of course, even the brunette knew that it was impossible. Haru was very badly wounded after his fight with Lucia, and it isn't like he knew the whereabouts of his castle; to hope for Haru to come within the next couple hours was like hoping for her memories to randomly poof back into existence.

With a dejected sigh, the brunette forced herself to dry her dripping body off and get dressed. Once she was all done getting ready, she slowly opened the door and peeked out, finding it empty. Relieved that Lucia had not decided to come visit her, she stepped out into the grand room and heading for the bowl of fruit once more. Making herself comfortable on the bed with a bunch of grapes – not her favorite, but she wasn't about to complain – and let her thoughts wander to Haru and the others.

_Surely, they've reached some town or another. Maybe they've even met up with Let and that Julia-dragon lady. No, I'm sure they have! Even though Haru's all beat up because Lucia, there's still Musica. He's strong enough to protect the ones that are hurt…And Let, if he's there. I'm sure Haru and Shuda will be fine…_

Elie lost track of her thoughts for a while, simply enjoying the bursts of juice that each grape provided her with. Just as she was finishing the bunch, the doors burst open and hit the walls with the force. "Hello, Elie," said Lucia with a spreading smirk. Immediately, the brunette was met with a familiar feeling of dread that he seemed to carry with him wherever he went. "I see you have adapted well to the change of surroundings."

"What do you want?" spat Elie, clenching her shaking fists tightly. The blond's eyes narrowed slightly at her, but as soon as the brunette cowered away from his glare slightly his smirk returned.

"I came to visit my little prisoner," he replied smoothly. As much as Elie hated the sight of those golden slits, she found that she could not take her eyes away from him. He stepped closer until he was at the edge of the bed and leaned forward so that they were quite close. "How are you enjoying your stay at my castle, child of Etherion?"

The only thing that kept Elie from spitting in his face was the fear that he'd send her back down to that cell. "I hate it here," she finally forced out. "Why did you take me here? What do you even _want_ from me?" she demanded, glaring at him fiercely.

Lucia did not even flinch under her glare. "Don't take it so personally," he finally said, reaching out and grabbing her jaw. Before she could pull away, his right hand had her cheeks held tightly between his thumb and fingers, mashing her mouth together. "I would have taken whoever was the carrier of Etherion. It's just your misfortune that it was you and not someone else."

Disgusted, Elie tried to yank her face out of his hands, but his grip was stronger and all she succeeded in doing was cutting open her cheek on one of her teeth. "We could be great," he whispered. For the first time since Elie had known him, there was a flicker of true emotion in those mesmerizing golden eyes. "Think of it, Elie. The Dark Bring Master and Etherion. Join me, and we will thwart any that get in our way!"

He released her jaw then, giving her a chance to speak for herself. The same offer had practically been given to her before the battle, but there was something different about the way he presented this one. Or, maybe it was just her imagination…

"Never!" cried the brunette, putting her hands on his chest and pushing him as hard as she could. As he had the last time she tried that, he only flinched back an inch or so. Their eyes met in one hopeless second before he reached out and grabbed her hair and pulled her closer to him.

Elie whimpered softly as he forced her up to eye-level, but it was clear that he had no intention of releasing her. "It does not matter," he said softly, his golden eyes unblinking. "I have you now, and I need only recall the remaining Sinclairs, and then you will have no choice but to obey me."

Before she could attempt an answer, he threw her away. Shaking, she groped at the part of her head that throbbed, preparing herself for another attack. However, Lucia merely laughed and slowly walked out. "Do not underestimate the power of my strength, Elie," he said as the doors closed behind him. Elie heard the unmistakable click of a lock and then…nothing.

The silence pressed down on her like a thick blanket. The brunette stared at the door for many minutes after he had closed it, feeling her heart beating faster than normal. A tear slid down her cheek and she grabbed the nearest pillow, curling herself into a ball. Tears were streaming down her cheeks by the time her head hit the bed, and her entire body seemed to be shaking as fast as her heart was beating.

_What is he going to do once he's got the rest of the Sinclairs?_ she asked herself through the haze of despair that had pressed over her. _What does he even need _me_ for? It doesn't matter what he says! Haru's going to come and get me… He always does. He won't be late. He won't let Lucia keep me here forever._

Desperately, the brunette repeated the line in her head, willing it to be true. She knew that Haru would come for her; she never doubted his impeccable timing to come bursting in just when she could take no more.

But…it had been a week, that lady said.

How much longer much she wait to be rescued?

And, more importantly, how much more could she withstand before her spirit broke before the endless darkness of Lucia?

~x~

Author's Note: Okay, so that whole 'not gonna post until the next chapter is finished' thing I pretended to have going for me was a lie. ;-; I'm sorry!  
>I'm also reaaaaally sorry this took so long! I went on vacation and wasn't able to write at all. V.v<br>BUT HERE IT IS. 3  
>I hope you all like it~<p> 


	4. Chapter 4: The Real Hell

Holding Out For a Hero

~x~

Author's Note: Okay. So. I lied about alternating. We all know what happens with Haru and the others; and besides, I'll recap on all the changes in a later chapter. This story is about Elie and Lucia, and so that's what I'll be focusing on! :D ENJOY!

~x~

**Chapter Four: The Real Hell**

When Elie awoke again, she found that she felt a great deal better than she had when she had fallen asleep. The tears that she had shed felt as if they had been long overdue, and they even left behind a sort of determination inside her unlike any other she had felt since waking up here. No more was she afraid for her life; though he had not told her why exactly, he _had_ made it clear that he needed her. Or, rather, he needed Etherion.

And, well, considering that she was the only one alive that possessed Etherion, which pretty much made her essential. Even better: it was imperative that she was strong and well, otherwise Etherion would go all wonky and whatever he had planned would go wrong.

Feeling rather invincible, Elie went into the bathroom and washed away the salt from the tears and the sleep. Admittedly, it was wonderful to be able to use an actual bathroom again and not some nearby stream or something. She loved traveling and all that, but she was a girl. She enjoyed the luxuries that a private bathroom had to offer.

Once she was done, she went back to the main room and looked around. She had made up her mind sometime last night that she was _not_ going to be staying in this room while she waited for Haru and the others. Surely, there was some other way outside besides the main door…

The brunette began to search the room for any windows or other exits, but all that she found was not encouraging; whatever windows there had been had plastered over by some strange material, and all the doors that led back into the hallway were locked or sealed shut. As far as she could tell, there was no way outside of this dreadful room.

Exasperated, Elie sat down on the floor and fell onto her back. "How am I gonna get out of here?" she asked herself out loud, covering her face with her hands. The brunette stayed like that for a second before letting her hands flop onto the floor as her cheek pressed against the door. She was next to the bed, and for the first time, she got a look at what was underneath. It was the same barren floor design as the rest of the room, except for a very small bump…

"Huh?" Elie asked, rolling over onto her stomach to get a better look. From her previous angle, it had looked lie just a random little bump, but now she saw that it was more like a raised piece of stone with a hole drilled completely through it. Curious, the brunette crawled under the bed and ran her hands along the floor close to the bump. Though the pattern did not break, there was a definite crack in the floor that made a fairly large square.

A trap door! Elie couldn't believe her luck. _The hole's gotta be where a metal ring or something once was,_ she realized silently, glancing up at the underside of the bed. She wasn't sure, but if she was very careful, she might be able to open the door and slip through without having to move the bed.

After a few seconds of attempting to lift the trap door by herself, Elie was forced to crawl back and look for something slender enough to fit through the hole. When she had found a good enough object, she crawled back under and slipped it through the hole. It was incredibly awkward, but the brunette had soon lifted the trap door as far as it would go with the bed above it.

_It'll be a tight fit…but, I should be able to squeeze through without much problem_, though Elie, situating herself so that she would slide in feet-first. Taking a deep breath, Elie slowly eased her legs into the hole, desperately searching for something solid to stand on. She was waist deep and about to pull out when her feet brushed against the same cold stone as she was lying on. Before she could continue to test it, her grip faltered and gravity sucked her down into the hole.

Elie had one terrifying moment of free-falling before she landed on her feet and fell forward. "O-ow," she muttered, looking around. The only light came from the open trap door, but it was enough to illuminate a small tunnel. As she pulled herself up, her hands found a flash-light shaped object and her thumb pushed down on a small raised button, giving her a bright light.

The ceiling was low enough that she had to crouch just slightly in order to walk, and the entire tunnel was filled with grime. _Didn't King destroy Demon Card headquarters back in September? I wonder who Lucia took this castle from…_

As she began to walk, Elie realized that there was a bit of light other than her flashlight; small slits in the floor. Elie slowly approached one and looked down, seeing a large open room. A long table stood in the middle, and several official-looking people sat there. At the head of the table sat Lucia, looking rather bored.

"What do you want?" he demanded lazily, yawning. Elie clicked the flashlight off and crouched closer to the vent. The meeting must have just started, lucky for her.

A nervous looking man stood up and cleared his throat. "We have some very interesting reports on Captain Hardner of the Blue Guardians," he started. He looked up from the papers and glanced at Lucia, but the blond devil merely raised an eyebrow and gestured lazily for him to continue.

Elie had to admit that it was rather strange seeing Lucia in this sort of setting. She had never bothered to imagine the monster when he wasn't harassing her and her friends, but she never would have thought that he had to sit down and listen to sweaty men read reports on things like business and stuff.

"Uh. Well, he is currently undergoing an attack on the Rave Master and his friends in pursuit of Elie," continued the man after a second. The muscles in Elie's body immediately clenched tightly and a single bead of sweat dripped down the side of her face – Haru! "Lieutenant Branch of Julius's sect was reportedly seen 'kidnapping' Elie and bringing her aboard an owned vessel. The reports state that the girl is in custody, and the Rave Master and his friends are going after her."

The brunette swallowed nervously. Did Branch know that Demon Card had captured her a week ago? Or maybe she was claiming to be Elie as a way to gain attention? _But…why?_

"Who is the girl?" asked Lucia, uncrossing his legs.

"Her name is Nagisa. Reports name her as the daughter of Yuma, leader of the Freedom Fighters."

Lucia leaned back again, staring at a spot on the table. Elie leaned forward slightly to get a better look at him – it seemed impossible, but he did not seem to be wounded at all from his fight with Haru! They must have some super drug or something to heal their leader as fast as possible. "Interesting. And, do we know _why_ Hardner is searching for our little friend?" he asked.

The man fumbled his notes slightly in shock of being directly spoken to by the head of Demon Card. "N-no, sir. And, this is the strangest report of all, it seems that…Captain Hardner is already in possession of Etherion."

Silence fell so thickly on the meeting that the brunette covered her mouth to prevent them from hearing her breathing too loudly. Could that really be possible? "Details," commanded Lucia in a resigned voice. It was almost like he was trying to control his urge to reach out and kill the man for daring to utter such a disgusting sentence and, with a tremor, Elie realized that he probably was.

"Apparently," squeaked the man, "a scientist known as Jerry Bourne has developed a method of synthesizing Etherion into the body, thus ending the 'reign of birthright' as he called it."

_Impossible! Etherion is like Rave – it's given to one person only because it's too powerful. No amount of science or technology could ever duplicate its power! _thought Elie immediately. There was no way that this Jerry Bourne could have given someone the power of Etherion…it just wasn't possible!

"Do any of you actually know what Etherion is?" asked Lucia slowly, glaring at everyone around the table until they all shook their heads nervously. "Back in the most ancient of times, people revered it. It was seen as the force that created the world, and was used by the Goddess that had given life to the universe. In a sense, they were not wrong. Etherion, while not something used by the Goddesses, is what created the universe. Why do you think Resha Valentine was able to create a stone out of thin air? Etherion gave her the power to create something from absolutely nothing. That is what Etherion is. Now, tell me, do any of you believe that a mere scientist could somehow create the creative force of this world?"

Though Lucia had not raised his voice in the slightest, no one around the table dared to answer him. Even Elie, far up in the ceiling, found herself paralyzed in terror; in that second, the brunette understood how a mere seventeen year old boy was able to command the greatest force of evil the world had ever known.

"Good. Now, go back and find me something worthwhile to hear," he dismissed, waving his hand in the air. The room was emptied in a heartbeat, though the blond did not make a move. Elie moved back slightly so that she was invisible from the floor were he to look up and notice her. "What is Hardner planning to do once he has Elie, I wonder," whispered Lucia softly, his fingers skimming across the surface of the Dark Bring he wore around his neck.

_He wishes to call forth The King of Oblivion and merge together his body with the King's._

Elie had to shove her fist into her mouth to stop herself from screaming out in fear. The voice was female, but it sounded as if someone had recorded a voice and using the worst studio known to mankind to twist and distort every aspect of it into the single, creepiest noise that Elie had ever heard. Yet, no one else was in the room. _Was that…oh my God, was that the Sinclair?_

"Does he now?" asked Lucia, but it was not in the same tone he had used when addressing those around the table. He sounded truly interested, as if this was news to him. "And what about this synthesized Etherion?"

Elie covered her ears, but the voice seemed to reverberate around her eardrums. _A fake. You need not worry about Jerry Bourne nor this child he has been testing on. The true power of Etherion is here at our feet._

"Yes, yes," murmured the blond distantly. "The Rave Master will inevitably face off with our large friend, will he not?"

_Yes._

"Such a bother. We can't have Hardner losing to that brat and losing a Sinclair after just regaining the one Doryu lost," sighed Lucia, shaking his head. "This could, perhaps work to our advantage, however."

_Yes, dear?_

Dear? _Dear?_ Why on earth was that creepy stone calling _Lucia Raregroove _DEAR? Something was not right here. Something was very, very wrong here.  
>"I wonder how fast the Rave Master would come running if he heard that our little friend was currently with Hardner."<p>

Elie blinked once in confusion, staring down at Lucia. _What…?_

_Send the girl to Hardner, and lure the Rave Master there as a trap._ Elie's mouth had barely popped open when she forced her fist right back into it; the stone was _laughing_. Suddenly, Lucia's evil laugh was like small children playing hopscotch in comparison to the Dark Bring's laughter; it was like nails on a chalkboard, a screaming child, and the smell of good food burning all rolled into one malicious laughter that rung in Elie's ears much longer than it actually lasted. _Perfect! Give him the hope of seeing his precious friend again and then take her away. You have learned well, Lucia._

For one horrifying second, the two shared what Elie could only describe as a grotesque mother-son moment of intimacy. Deciding that she had heard quite enough, the brunette began to crawl back the way that she had come when her worst fears happened.

The floor beneath her collapsed and she fell down into the room beneath her. A scream escaped her mouth as she fell, momentarily more afraid of the falling rocks than of what would be awaiting her at the bottom. She hit the ground with a loud thump, and she immediately covered her face with her arms as rocks continued to rain down on her. "I see your found the little escape route," said Lucia calmly, his shadow appearing over her. Rather than answer, the brunette began to cough. "This is of no real consequence, however. Now I do not have to explain to you what you will be doing."

"N-never!" gasped out Elie, shaking off rubble from her arms and body. "If you think I'm going to do that to Haru, then you are – "

Before she could finish speaking, Lucia grabbed her arm and yanked her up. "Correct, my dear," he finished for her with a wide smirk. "You are my prisoner. You will do what I say."

The brunette looked right into those golden eyes as contemptuously as she could manage and spat directly at his forehead. A second of time passed between the two as his eyes began to widen in pure shock at what she had just dared to do; and even Elie had to admit that that was pretty ballsy of her.

"You dare to spit upon the face of Lucia Raregroove?" screamed the blond, sending her flying against the wall. Elie felt the air leave her body as she hit the wall, but Lucia was not quite done with her; as she fell, he grabbed her neck and held up just slightly above the ground so that her legs involuntarily began to flail around in a desperate search for something solid.

Lights danced across her eyes as her lungs tried to suck in some tiny amount of air from beneath Lucia's impossibly tight grip. Just when her vision was beginning to cloud over completely, he threw her to the floor. "Bring in one of those fools!" screeched Lucia, kicking her out of his way as he headed to the door. Elie clutched the wound with one hand and her throbbing neck with the other as she choked on the air. She was dimly aware that the door had opened and someone else was thrown in, but she didn't bother to look up. Unfortunately, Lucia seemed to have other plans for her; he roughly grabbed the front of her shirt and hoisted her up into the air and slammed her against the wall once more. "I want you to watch this, Elie," he whispered in her ear before releasing her. Her vision was still hazy, but her body reluctantly turned to where he was standing, if only to avoid more pain.

"Will you start to cooperate, Elie?" asked the blond, his voice sounding much farther away than it was. Too weak to verbally answer, Elie simply shook her head, glaring at him with as much hate as her weak body could handle. "Very well, then." Suddenly, the other man fell to his knees. Elie stared at him blankly for a second as blood poured out of his neck. Tears appeared in the corners of her eyes as she realized what he was doing – he was just going to continue killing random people until he gave the answer that he wanted.

"I ask you again, Elie; will you cooperate with my plans?"

The brunette fell to the floor, shaking violently. She wanted so desperately to say no, to refuse him over and over again so that he would understand that she was not just some sort of toy for him to play with. However, she knew that if she continued to deny him, he would just continue killing off all of his men… "I…I…" she stammered, her voice weak from his earlier assault. "Y-yes," she finally managed to choke out, closing her eyes as more tears continued to stream down her eyes.

Lucia smiled and approached her. "Good girl," he said, lifting her chin with his boot. "I am your master. Do you understand that? Your friends will not come to save you. You will be mine forever."

Elie didn't answer except to force her chin back off of his boot. However, he simply picked it back up and forced her eyes to meet his. "Say it," he whispered. His eyes were wide and Elie knew without a doubt that he would hurt her in the most excruciating ways if she did not comply.

"You are my master," she spat out, jerking her chin off of his boot again. Lucia began to laugh, grabbing her arm and yanking her back up to her feet.

"Time to get you ready for your little encounter with the Rave Master, don't you think?" he asked, dragging her out of the room.

* * *

><p>Haru looked out over the deck, watching the landscape fly by beneath them. Under any other circumstance, he probably would have been training with Musica, or joking around with Elie. However, as it stood, he could neither of those things, nor would he have wanted to had he been able to.<p>

They were headed to the Freedom Fighters hideout with Nagisa leading them, but it didn't feel right. Something was horribly off about their situation, but Haru couldn't quite place what exactly was wrong; besides Elie's absence and Nagisa being forced to be tortured, of course. It was almost as if he could feel something very, very bad about to happen.

"Haru, Haru!" screamed Griff suddenly from below him. Haru immediately located him on a lower deck, his bad feeling slowly growing larger within him. Griff had a very panicked look about him, as if he had just seen a ghost. "Emergency meeting in the cabin – _now_!"

The Rave Master was on his feet in no time, and in the cabin in under a minute. Everyone else was gathered around the table except for Nagisa, who was piloting the ship. On the edge of the table, someone had placed a small television, and an old-fashioned tape sat next to it. "What's going on?" he asked nervously, taking the seat next to Julia. Everyone averted their eyes, refusing to look at him. "Guys?"

Finally, Musica leaned forward. "We just had a bird-mail delivery," he said steadily, nodding towards the tape. "From Lucia." Haru immediately straightened up, feeling his heart stop for a second. "We haven't seen it yet. That's why we called you in here. We want to watch it together."

Haru nodded, trying to swallow the lump forming in his throat. "Put it in," he instructed shakily, clenching his fists on the table. _This_ was his bad feeling, he realized. Whatever was wrong with the world would be revealed on this video that Lucia had decided to drop.

The television showed nothing but black and white lines for a few seconds before it slowly faded into a simple room. There was nothing extraordinary about the room except for the chair in the middle – more specifically, the figure that was sitting in it.

Her hands were tied behind her back, and her head was bowed low concealing her face. "Elie," whispered Haru, only just then realizing that he was shaking heavily. "Elie!"

"She cannot hear you, Haru," snapped Let, glaring at him as he began to rise. The blond took a deep breath and nodded, not once taking his eyes off the screen.

Elie slowly lifted her head, her eyes staring straight into Haru's. An audible gasp went around the table as she revealed dark purple bruises around her neck. Now that those were seen, the gang began to notice all sorts of other bruises on her arms and snaking down to the part of her hands that they could not see. A sad sort of smile appeared on her lips, but it was nothing at all like the usual smile that she carried so well.

"Hi everyone," she rasped. Her voice was feeble, like a candle clinging to the flame. "I really…hope that you guys are all doing a…a lot better than I look," she said weakly. "But, seriously, I'm actually not that bad. I mean, okay, yeah. It looks like I was kinda strangled and all that." A short laugh bounced off her lips before she began to cough.

They could not hear it, but Lucia must have shouted something from off-camera; Elie flinched away from one side. "Okay, okay," she grumbled, turning back to the camera. Haru knew that she was just looking into lenses, that she couldn't actually see him, but he couldn't help but feel that she was speaking just for him. "I'm…I'm being transported to the Blue Guardians', whatever they are," she said, taking a deep breath. Her eyes left the camera for a second – probably to glance at Lucia – before flashing back.

A new sort of determination had appeared in her eyes and she leaned forward. "But, don't you dare go near him, Haru! It's a trap! Don't come after me, and, whatever you do, don't go near – "

Suddenly, Lucia appeared out of nowhere and kicked the chair over, sending Elie to the floor. However, she was not off-screen, and so when he began to beat her for daring to speak out, they all got the fun of watching. Lucia stood up and blood dripped off of his knuckles and onto the floor, and he looked right into the camera. "If you really want to save your precious friend," he snarled, kicking at Elie's limp body once, "I suggest you find out where Hardner is. But, be warned; Hardner's got his own plans concerning your lovely little friend." The screen went black then, leaving Lucia's cruel laughter ringing in their ears.

Before Haru knew what was happening, he had punched the screen of the television in. Blood dripped from his knuckles and onto the table, and some shards of glass poked out from the clenched skin, but the Rave Master did not feel anything from it at all. No one went after him as he walked from the cabin, totally lost in a fog.

The only coherent thought he could muster up was Elie, but he would have traded any thought in the whole world if it got the image out of his head; all he could see was Lucia beating the crap out of Elie right there for him to see. All he could hear ringing in his ears was Elie screams of pain, her begging for mercy, as they slowly grew weaker as her body slipped into unconsciousness. And her _weight_. She had definitely lost weight in the week and a half she had been gone.

The blond had stopped at the very edge of the ship, staring out at the endlessly blue sky, though he saw nothing except for Elie. Hot tears began to burn down his cheeks as his fists clenched automatically in preparation to beat the living crap of whoever dared to cause such anguish to his Elie.

_His Elie_.

Haru wasn't sure when that had started, but he had been trying as hard as possible not to think of her like that. She wasn't 'his'. She was her own person. However, seeing Lucia hurting her like that had awakened in him an undeniable feeling; Elie was _his_.

"Haru?"

The blond flinched slightly, but didn't turn to see who had joined him. "Hullo," he managed to get out, wiping his eyes. Julia slowly walked forward until she was standing next to him.

The two stood in silence for a while, both staring at the clouds. "I know what it's like," she finally whispered. Haru tore his eyes away from the sky to turn to her, but she did not look his way. "Watching the one that you care about most getting hurt like that. I know how it feels to want to beat the living crap out of whoever dares hurt them, and I know exactly what it's like to be completely powerless to do." Finally, her eyes turned to his. Her eyes were glassy, but there was no threat of actual tears.

Haru broke eye contact and looked down at his bleeding fist. "It sucks," he muttered, flicking a piece of glass away. "It's like, I keep on seeing the moment she was taken away, over and over again. I can't stop. I just replay the scene, trying to find some way that I could have saved her. And, and then with that video, and Lucia was…he was…and, Elie…" his voice trailed off as great sobs engulfed his body. Julia placed a hand on his shoulder and gently sat him down. Her hand remained on his back and she comfortingly rubbing his shoulder blade.

The last time Haru had broken down like this, his father had died.

"It was all so clear," he gasped, sucking in air, "Get the Rave and save Elie. That was it. I figured that there'd be some complication in the plan – there _always_ is – but now she's telling me to stay away from that Hardner guy that Nagisa kept going on about."

Julia nodded, looking back out at the sky. "I know it's difficult. Choosing between following your instincts, and rushing after the person you love. But, you have to stay strong, kiddo. Elie…she's tough. Probably tougher than you give her credit for," she said, punching his shoulder gently, "Right now, focus on Nagisa. She needs our help, and if that leads us to Hardner, then that's where we go. And, if Elie really is there…well, two birds with one stone, eh?"

The two looked at each for a second before Haru smiled slightly. "Yeah," he agreed, nodding. "Even if I can't get Elie right now, I'm still gonna have to meet up with Lucia eventually, right? I can just kick his sorry ass and save her," he said, wiping his eyes and sighing, "I just wish I could go marching into Demon Card and rescue her right now."

"Tough luck, kid," Julia snorted. "You go there now, you'd probably find the place empty. It sounds ridiculous, but be patient. We'll get Elie back."

Haru nodded again, standing up with her. However, before the two could say anything else, Musica appeared on the deck above them. "Haru, Julia! Apparently, Hardner found the location of the Freedom Fighter's base, so, change of plan – Godspeed to the hideout!"

~x~

Author's Note: We all know what happens after that, so I figured it'd be best to just end it there.  
>Veeeeeeeeery sad chapter. Dx It actually a bit painful for me to write the scene's where Lucia is going all berserk and stuff (yay for pacifism!). Also, what did you guys think of Sinclair? She (it?) is going to make several appearances throughout the story, and I figured that now's as good of a time as any to introduce her.<p> 


	5. Chapter 5: A New Form of Torture

Holding Out For a Hero

~x~

Author's Note: Sorry it's been so long! Life has been all sorts of hectic (I use that excuse a lot, huh?). However, I feel like I should tell all of you guys this now that there is less than a month to go…  
>On June 7th of this year, I will be boarding a plane and flying overseas to Germany. Exciting, right? :D Very. The bad news – I don't have a laptop, nor will I have extended amounts of time on a computer while I'm there. I'll kinda be busy touring Berlin and Potsdam and Goslar and the Alps (not to brag or anything, that's just some of where I'll be), so even if I did have access to a computer, I doubt I'd be up for any long amounts of use.<br>And then, almost immediately after I come back (on the 29th of the same month), I will once again be heading to the fabulous summer camp I worked at last summer. I very highly doubt it, but there is a small possibility that my parents will buy me a laptop during the time I'm working, but even so, I don't think I'd take it out there, just for safety reasons.  
>ANYWAYS, the nub and gist of this all: in less than one month, I will be once more vanishing into the abyss of my everyday life. The good news – I do get a laptop soon, and so writing will be a whooooole lot easier from thereon.<br>I just figured I'd let you guys know so you don't think I've given up on the story, if it isn't finished. Which I doubt it will be. Dx

Off that note, enjoy the chapter. :D

Oh, by the way, there's a bit of a joke in this chapter. If you can spot it and tell me where it's from, you get a cookie. :D

~x~

**Chapter Five: A New Form of Torture**

Elie had never cried so hard in her life. Tears relentlessly streamed down her cheeks and off the tip of her nose until a small puddle formed beneath her. Her body shook so intensely that she had to consciously remind herself that it was her and not a small earthquake.

Lucia had, after her little warning to Haru, sent her back into the dark. Unlike her first encounter with the darkness, however, there were two differences: first of all, she was not chained up like she had been before. The room was small and did not offer much room to move, and even if she wasn't injured, she probably would not have taken advantage of the pseudo freedom.

The other difference was the daily delivery of food – well, a hunk of bread and a glass of water. Elie wasn't sure how long she had been down in the darkness, but she figured that Lucia wouldn't want to feed her too often; all just part of the punishment.

It didn't stop there, however. Lucia had not given her the chance to be seen by any nurse before he had, quite literally, thrown her into this hell. The only act of kindness that he had shown to her was sending down a thick roll of bandages and the tape that went with it. Most of her injuries, however, were internal and so the bandages were next to useless, but they did offer a bit of mental comfort.

Elie had no idea how much time she had spent crying. It just didn't seem to end, not even with the daily food. She merely pulled the food off the tray and cried as she was eating. It was, admittedly, pathetic, but she couldn't seem to pull herself together.

All she could think of was Haru. She _knew_, without any doubt, that he would come after her. No matter what warning she sent to him, he would come bursting in through that door and save her. The thought comforted her just for a brief second before she realized the situation that he would be busting in on – multiple Sinclairs.

The two that Lucia had, and the one that this Hardner guy. Haru had _died_ fighting just one of them; how could he possibly expect to win against three?  
>Elie opened her eyes taking in the blurred walls of her room. Her eyes had adjusted much better than they had before, so she could see some of the room that contained her. For the first time in what felt like hours, she pushed herself off of the floor and into a sitting position. Her small back hit the wall gently, and she allowed her legs to stretch out in front of her.<p>

The brunette had just closed her eyes when she heard some movement outside of the door. Her daily delivery of food hadn't been that long ago – well, not that she could really keep track, but her hunger wasn't nearly as intense as it usually was when the food came.

"May I see her?" asked a muffled voice. Elie pulled her legs back into her chest, feeling her heart rate dance against her ribcage. Who was it? Another monster here to torture her?

"U-um, sir, we are under orders not to let anyone in to see her unless given direct permission from Lord Lucia," stammered the guard. There was a guard out there? For a locked room? Elie shook her head in disbelief at Lucia's paranoia before realizing that the guard was not for fear of her escape; it was in fear of someone rescuing it.

_Well, he better be some super-guard, 'cause Haru doesn't let anyone stop him_, the brunette thought calmly, her lips momentarily twitching into a smirk. "Lord Lucia doesn't have to know I came in to visit her. It will be a secret to everyone," the visitor replied. His voice was muffled greatly, but there was no mistaking the suave tone he had.

The guard did not reply, but Elie could hear the unmistakable sound of the metal key scraping against whatever lock contained her. "Thank you, sir. Now, scurry off. I wish to be alone with this beautiful creature. If anyone asks, I took over guard duty," he said as the door pushed open. Elie shielded her eyes from the blinding light that poured in. Elie heard the footsteps of the man entering as well as the guard leaving, and for one wild second, she considered making a dash for the door.

The dream was quickly squashed as the door slammed behind him. "What do you want?" demanded Elie weakly. Her voice came out much weaker than she had hoped, but that didn't matter right now. All she wanted at that moment was to be left alone in her misery. She didn't want visitors. She didn't want some pitiful Demon Card grunt to come in here and try to convince her that things would get better – because they _wouldn't_.

"Is that really how you plan on treating the man who's going to save you?"

The brunette froze. Even her heart seemed to stop its frantic tango for a second. "Julius?" she whispered, slowly turning around. There he stood, in all his narcissistic glory. "What…what are you doing here?"

He gave her that familiar smile and flipped back his bangs. "I told you. I came here to rescue you. Well, actually, the Rave Master sent me here to –"

"You've seen Haru?" interrupted Elie, jumping to her feet. She swayed almost instantly, and the general reached out to steady her. Her head was swimming from the sudden movement, and her legs were throbbing from the lack of use. Julius slowly set her back down on the ground and waited patiently for her to regain her composure before he continued.

"Yes, I have. Would you like me to tell you about the outside world, Elie?" he asked. The brunette stared at him openly; what had happened to him? He was nothing at all like he was the first time she had met him – could she trust this new, kind Julius? "I brought you something. It'll help you believe me, I was told."

Elie nodded and held her hand out shakily. The pretty boy reached into his deep pocket and pulled it back out with a clenched fist. He knelt down next to her and pulled her other hand up and carefully dropped something into it. "He asked me to give this to you," he said softly, standing back up.

There, in Elie's hands, lay the most important object that Haru, personally, owned; the necklace he had been given by his father before Gale had left Garage Island. It was in one piece, even clasped back together. "How do I know that you didn't just take it from him by force?" she asked shakily, not taking her eyes off the silver ornaments.

"Because I have no interest in deceiving you, Elie. Your friends…they saved my life. I want to return the favor."

For a long time, the brunette simply looked between the necklace and Julius. There was definitely something about him that had not been there before. And, he really didn't have a reason to take Haru's necklace off. With trembling fingers, she gently pulled the string loose and slipped the thick band around her neck. "Julius…thank you. Tell me about the outside world," she said softly, looking right into his endlessly gray eyes.

He smiled and sat down opposite from her and began speaking. He told her about the small dancing village where he had encountered Haru and the others. "I was surprised to see that your dragon friend had turned into a human form. There was also a girl there," he said, rubbing his chin. Elie quickly explained about how Sieg had saved Let from the tree and how he had gone running after Jegan to change Julia back into a human form and the story continued.

"The whole village was destroyed by the Blue Guardians coming in to find you. That's where they saved me. And then they took this girl, I didn't catch her name, and some lieutenant told them that she was you. I think they got her back and are heading to go fight with the Freedom Fighters. I do know, however, that they're all headed to Makai."

"Makai?"

Julius nodded. "It's the world that demonoids and other nonhuman creatures live. Doryu was a King of Makai, one of the six or seven. That great lion that came to retrieve Lucia was another king," he explained calmly, flipping his hair again.

"How come everyone's heading to Makai, then?" asked Elie curiously, ravenous for more information. The others, they were all alive. They were alive and they were _well_. It was so beautiful. For a few seconds, Elie forgot where she was and what her situation was; all that mattered was that her friends were alive and happy.

"I don't know. Hardner is heading there, and the Freedom Fighters are following. Lucia is heading there to ensure that Hardner doesn't lose his Sinclair, and to use you as…well, bait." In a flash, any good feelings that Elie had been having vanished. _Oh, yeah…that's right…_ "But, don't fret. That's why I am here; to get you out of here without Lucia realizing that you're gone."

That said, he rose to his feet. Elie stared up at him, but he merely extended his hand. "Right now?" asked Elie in shock, her hands flying back up to Haru's necklace.

Julius nodded, glancing at the door. "Yes. And, we must hurry. Haru and a few others have taken a few of the Freedom Fighters' spare ships and will be here shortly," he explained. The brunette needed no other further convincing; her hand flew up to his and she allowed him to pull her up gently. "You're really banged up… Well. It's a good thing that Haru has some of that beautiful elixir! You'll be right back up to your usual beauty in just a flash."

Despite herself, Elie had to smile at him. Their hands remained clasped together as they quickly left the room. No one else was down the hallway, and Julius quickly began to lead her down the hallway. "We must get up to the uppermost level. That'll be the easiest place for the others to spot us and get us out of here," he whispered to her as he navigated through the ships hallways. It seemed impossibly bright to Elie at first, but she trusted Julius to lead her to safety.

The duo made their way up to the top levels without any problems, as if the other guards had disappeared entirely. "Where is everyone?" inquired Elie softly, squinting in the bright sun. It had been so impossibly long since she had seen the true light of day – it was positively beautiful.

"I don't know. It is rather worrisome, though. I suppose we'll just have to trust that they are eating a nice meal or something," he said, gently pulling her. Just as the two were reaching the stairs, the entire ship began to shriek and blaring sirens could be heard.

"ENEMY SHIPS SPOTTED!" it wailed. Julius swore and pushed her onto the steps.

"Just keep on heading up! Don't stop for anything, do you understand? Go!" he screamed, pulling out the hilt of his ice sword. Elie hesitated, unsure of what he was doing. "I can't be seen with you right now, Elie. Our plan is beautiful, but it is not infallible. I must retain Lucia's trust. Go!"

The brunette did not stay to watch Julius run off to join the other Demon Card members in battle. Instead, she sprinted up the flights of stairs as fast as her weak legs would allow. Soldiers that passed her did not seem to realize who she was; or, if they did, they didn't seem to care that Lucia's prisoner had escaped.

Up, and up she went until the stairs had ended. From this vantage point, she saw a few ships fluttering around at the lower docks. They looked like metallic birds fighting with a few worms for dominance; and they were losing. "Elie!" cried Julius suddenly, appearing behind her. Blood dripped down from his forehead, and he seemed breathless. "Someone down there alerted Lucia to your absence!"

"No!" she cried in despair, covering her ears as a sudden explosion wracked the ship; one of the fighter planes must have dropped a bomb or something. "Where is Haru?" she screamed over the noise of the new turn of events.

Crashes and explosions filled the air, including the screaming engines of the few planes flittering around them. "I'm not sure!" he replied over the noise, his eyes widening. "Freeze!" he suddenly cried, turning around. Lucia stood just a few feet away from them, caught off guard of Julius's attack. His eyes were wide in an unforgiving rage.

"I will kill you, Julius," he said, strangely calm. He did not struggle against the bonds that Julius had placed on him, just waiting patiently for the ice to melt in his veins. "As for you, Elie…oh, you shall be punished greatly for this…"

Despite the heat of the sun, Elie felt shivers go down her spine at his word. "Well, I won't be around for you to hurt me anymore!" she screamed, backing away slightly. As if her words had summoned them, a new plane appeared out of nowhere.

"Elie!"

It was the only sound that she had ever wanted to hear, and it seemed to bounce around her ears in some happy jig. "Haru!" she replied, turning to the plane. There he was, half sticking out of the side. His arm was extended to grab her as he had that first day on the dog track. Tears formed in her eyes at the sight, and she ran forward to meet him, arm extended.

She was perhaps four feet away from him when she heard it. It was soft, it was pathetic, and it had not come from Julius. Instinctively, Elie turned back around and found herself staring right into the foul yellow eyes of her greatest fear.

His arm was extended slightly towards her, and his face was contorted in an expression of, not the rage she had grown so accustomed to but instead, defeat. A sadness unlike anything that Elie could remember seeing poured off of him, and the sheer intensity of it made her stumble. Her fingers brushed against Haru's for a brief second before they slipped away and she fell to the floor of the ship.

"Elie, no!" roared Haru. Elie only had time to look over her shoulder. Her eyes met with Haru's for just a brief second before the plane was forced to swerve away. Tears were falling from his eyes and blew off of his face and scattered in the wind, and as Elie began to close her eyes, she thought that it was perhaps the second saddest sight she had witnessed.

Too weak from the days of solitude and crying, the brunette couldn't bring herself to lift her body up and away from Lucia's approaching figure. "Get away from her!" snarled Julius from somewhere far away, but Elie had already given up.

There was no point fighting in anymore. Lucia still had her, and whatever had driven Haru and the plane away was doing a pretty good job of keeping him away. Lucia loomed over her menacingly, but Elie simply allowed herself to fall into the endless void of her consciousness. Just as she had completely hidden away in the crevices of her mind, a single image came to mind.

A small child crouched on the metallic floor, holding his legs up to his small chest. Underneath a shock of lemon-colored hair, a single tear fell from his hollow eyes and ran into a deep scar that framed his right eye.

_Lucia?_

* * *

><p>"Turn us around!" screamed Haru over the screeching metal around him. "God damn it, Musica, turn us back around!"<p>

She had been right there. She had been in arms reach; all he had to do was grab her wrist and yank her up without injurying her arm. It was all so perfectly coordinated. "I'm _trying_!" cried Musica hotly, biting down on the filter of his cigarette. "Tell me what's going on out there, will ya'?"

The blond had to force himself to look out below. The small fighter planes that Nagisa had lent them were all retreating under the sheer size of Lucia's army. "Everyone's pulling back," he reported hollowly. With some effort, he stuck his head out and looked back at the level that he was supposed to have grabbed Elie from. Another small plane was behind them – the second rescue plane. "Nagisa and Julia are right behind us, though!"

"Did they grab Elie?" demanded Musica, suddenly directing the plane down. A small radio next to him was screaming the retreat order, and there was no time to try and ignore it. "'Cause if they didn't, we can't exactly turn back and get her."

Haru pushed back into the plane and closed the door. Immediately, all noise seemed to stop except for the constant commands given over the radio. His ears were ringing, and he stabbed his fingers into them to try and calm them. "I didn't see them take her," he shouted, too deaf to feel comfortable speaking normally. Musica nodded and slowly brought them back down to the small ship that they had taken off of.

As soon as the plane had rolled to a stop, Haru jumped off and headed towards where Nagisa and Julia had landed. "Did you…?" he started to say as Julia climbed out. Blood was smeared across her hands and front, but she did not meet his gaze.

"Go meet Papa. We have to get going up to Hardner before Lucia does," she replied avertedly. She turned her back to him and began to shout for a medic.

Without looking, Haru knew that they had not managed to take Elie. Nagisa suddenly appeared next to him and began to lead him away. "We're just in the way," she explained in an undertone. Medics and doctors began to swarm around the plane and Haru watched as Julius's limp body was pulled out. "Lucia beat the crap out of him and kicked him off the tower. We only just managed to catch him, but I think we might have done some serious damage when we did."

The Rave Master nodded numbly, looking around. The plans were mostly in ruins, and there didn't appear to be many that had escaped injury. In fact, only the four in the rescue group were unscathed. "I failed again," he spat over the edge of the ship. Nagisa opened her mouth to try and console him, but he had run up to the railing and jumped on top of it. Using a metal rod to steady himself, he stared out at the endless ocean, searching for the bump that was Lucia's cursed ship.

"Lucia!" he roared loudly once he had located it. Everyone on deck froze and began to stare at him, but he took no notice. Rage pumped through his body like fiery blood, and he controlled all of it into this one last bellow. "I will find you! And, when I find you, I'm gonna take her back! Do you hear me? I will save you, Elie!"

Breathing heavily, Haru jumped down and, without looking at anyone, marched up to the top of the ship where Papa was waiting. "Let's go," he said angrily, storming past his friends. Without any hesitation, everyone jumped up and began to follow him. The Freedom Fighters that were on board all moved aside for them to pass, staring at Haru with wide eyes.

_Next time, you are going _down_, Lucia. I _will_ find you, and I _will_ save Elie. And as soon as she's safe, you are _dead_. No more being too soft. This torture has gone on for too long – let's end this, just you and I._

~x~

Author's Note: You know, I actually wrote 90% of this chapter at one time. Yay?  
>Well, it's a bit shorter than the others, but I think it still works. :3<br>Anyone catch the joke? It's kinda obscure, but I'll let you all know what it is in the next chapter.  
>Which, by the way, is gonna be pretty darn interesting~<br>I hope ya' all enjoyed!


	6. Still Alive!

Hi everyone! Unfortunately, I haven't been able to type up any chapters for the story. V.v

This is actually just me coming back on real fast to let all of my beautiful readers that I am still alive (and still cakeless. Five points to anyone that gets the reference) and well, and that I have NOT forgotten about the story!

Tomorrow I leave for work/camp, so it doesn't look like I'll be able to update for another week or so.

Either way, there WILL be an update. It just won't be for a while.

:D

Figured I'd let all of ya' know that I still love you all.


	7. Chapter 6: The Root of Evil

Holding Out For a Hero

~x~

Author's Note: I finally got my laptop, and now I'll be able to update fast and write a lot! :D Yaaaaay!  
>Oh yeah, the little joke I threw in the last chapter was when Julius was arguing with the guard to see Elie. The 'It will be a secret to everybody'. It's from the Legend of Zelda series, originating in a bad translation in the English version. :D<p>

~x~

**Chapter Six: The Root of Evil**

"_Lucia?"_

_The child's sunken eyes flashed to her. His pale skin seemed to radiate against the pure blackness of where they were, illuminating his entire body. "Who are you?" he asked. His voice was hoarse, presumably from crying or lack of use. "What are you doing here?"_

_Elie felt her knees begin to shake. He couldn't have been older than six. The thought hit her in the chest, hard; Lucia had been imprisoned after Gale had accidentally sent the army onto the original Demon Card headquarters. King had never known that his son was alive…but suffering a fate that was much worse._

_"My name is Elie," she said weakly, clenching her fists to quell the quivers. "I…I came to see you. What are you doing down here?"_

_Lucia sniffled, hitting his crossed arms with his chin. His lower lip jutted out in a small pout, however, his expression quickly melted into one of despair. "I don't know!" he wailed suddenly, hitting his head against the wall behind him. Elie instinctively dove forward and placed her hand behind his head. "I don't know why I'm here! They just…they just threw me down here!"_

_As he began to sob, Elie stared at him. It was so difficult to imagine that this defenseless little child was going to grow up and become the greatest threat that the world had ever seen. Slowly, she sat down next to him and stretched her legs out. "Did Mommy send you?" he suddenly asked, his back going erect. "Or Daddy, right? Daddy could do that, you know. Send someone down here to come get me. Him and Mommy, right? My real Mommy, I mean." The tears still fell from his eyes, but a delusional sort of hope had etched itself into his small face. Even the scars around his eye seemed to dim in comparison to the sheer force of his hope._

_"What do you mean, your 'real mommy'?" asked Elie, not wanting to crush the child's hope. A strange feeling was settling in her stomach, but she ignored it._

_Lucia's eyes dropped slightly, and he began to fidget as only a scared child could. "She comes sometimes when I'm sleeping," he whispered. Elie leaned closer to hear, and he cupped his hand around his mouth and put it against her ear. "She…she tells me weird things. And she makes me do weird things. It…it hurts a lot, too, but she doesn't ever let me stop. She tells me that I'm weak and that I have to try harder."_

_"What does she look like?"_

_The blond pulled away slightly and shook his head. "I can't say! She'll…she's gonna hurt me if I tell you. I can't! No! Please, don't make me say it…I don't wanna hurt anymore!" Panic gripped the child, and his hands grabbed the lemon mess on his head as he began to rock back and forth._

_Carefully, Elie wrapped an arm around him. He leaned against her and began to sob against her shoulder. As he sobbed, the brunette slowly rubbed his side and whispered the most encouraging words she could think of into his hair. "I won't let the mean lady hurt you anymore," she promised, holding him close._

_Part of her questioned the strangeness in holding the future devil incarnate, but something kept her there. Maybe it was the sight of a child locked away; maybe it was pure sympathy towards anyone kept in the dark. But, Elie knew that there was something else going on here._

_Lucia was so innocent. He was nothing more than a confused child that wanted his mother. She had no idea how long he had been down here, but the thought that he would remain down here for ten years made her nauseas._

_"Hello, Lucia."_

_Immediately, Elie felt every single hair on her body stand straight. Lucia tensed for a second before cowering against the brunette, gripping the front of her shirt tightly. "No!" he whimpered. Elie forced her arms to move and wrap around him protectively, staring into the purple gem of the Sinclair. It floated about five feet away from them, and even though Elie knew that it was no more alive than the Rave Stones that Haru carried, she could not help but feel a certain presence to it._

_"You have been a very bad boy, my son."_

_Again, Elie had to grind her teeth together to keep from crying out. Even now, the voice was the pure noise of every bad thing that Elie could possibly begin to imagine. Lucia didn't reply except to continue to cry, and the brunette tightened her grip._

_"Lucia, my child, won't you come to me? Come to mommy, dear," cooed the Dark Bring in what Elie could only imagine was an attempt at being motherly. "Mommy will make it all better. It's what Daddy would want you to do, darling."_

_Against her chest, Elie felt Lucia still. "It…it is?" he asked softly, lifting his head away to look at her. When the brunette tried to speak, to stop him, she found that she had no control over her body._

_For the second time in her life, the Sinclair's laughter filled the air and lingered in her ears for much longer than it should have. "Of course, darling! Come to mommy…I will make everything better. I promise."_

_Elie's arms fell limply to the ground as Lucia climbed out of her embrace. His eyes were glued to the floating stone, filled with that same hopeful fire he had shown earlier. "Mommy!" he suddenly screamed, running towards it._

_The last thing Elie saw as her vision began to darken was the body of child-Lucia flying across the room. The last thing she heard was "Mommy will make you strong, my child."_

* * *

><p>Elie awoke with a start, her entire body contorting in spasms that she could not control. "Get away from him!" she screamed, sitting straight up. Her outcry reverberated around the empty room, followed by her panting.<p>

How long she stayed in that upright position, hands clenching her hair, was beyond her. Visions of the child Lucia flying across a dank cell played across her eyes over and over again; Sinclair's final promise rang through her ears like a bad case of tinnitus. Only the fear of going mad was enough to break the brunette free from her waking nightmare, sending her collapsing onto her back once more.

As her eyes traced the stone ceiling above her, she slowly felt her heartbeat settle into a nice, easy rhythm beneath her ribcage. A few more deep breaths, and she had successfully blocked out the image as well as the noise.

_What…what did I just see? Was that the truth, or just some trick of the mind?_ she asked herself as calmly as she could, keeping her eyes glued to the ceiling. _It would make sense though, wouldn't it? Lucia _was_ only a child when he was sent into prison. And, it isn't as if children are born truly evil. Surely something must have had an influence on him that made him into such a monster._

Elie closed her eyes, trying to make sense of her nightmare. She had been laying there for just a few seconds when it hit her – _Sinclair_.

"Go was corrupted by the Dark Bring, and that made him drench Ska Village for years. As soon as the Dark Bring was gone, it was like he had woken up for the first time in years. He wasn't really a bad guy, it was just the Dark Bring. He had been exposed to it for years. But…but Lucia, he's been around Sinclair since he was _six_."

The epiphany hit her hard, leaving the brunette feeling weak and breathless. "If we could get him away from the Dark Bring…" she whispered, staring up at the ceiling without seeing it, "could we save the child in him?"

The brunette stayed like that several minutes, allowing the full force of what she had discovered sink in. All she could think was that Lucia wasn't bad, not truly. He was being controlled by the Mother Dark Bring. The only people she could think of that would possibly be able to resist that sort of power were Shiba and Haru.

"Good morning, Elie."

Startled, she sat up quickly and turned around, staring at the entryway she had missed earlier. "Lucia," she breathed, her eyes wide.

For the first time she had ever seen him, Elie was not afraid. She could feel no fear, only pity. "It would appear that you are more troublesome than I first imagined," he said softly. His voice was calm, dead sounding. No amount of the emotion that Elie had witnessed previously was present. "I see now that leaving you alone will only result in these desperate escape plans you've indulged in. Now, we can't have anymore of those, can we?"

The brunette stared at him blankly, unsure of whether the question was rhetoric or not. The blond stared back, his gaze cool and even. "From now on, you will be at my side at all times. Never again shall I leave you alone, Etherion user. It is the only way I can ensure your complete cooperation."

A slight chill crept up Elie's back at the prospect. "What about bathroom breaks and stuff?" she asked, unable to stop herself. A wife smirk spread onto Lucia's otherwise emotionless expression. "Fine. I'll stay by your side, but don't you think for a second that I'm going to give up on getting out of here."

Even as the words left her mouth, Elie knew that she wasn't going to be making any more escape attempts. Something had changed within her after realizing the truth about Lucia. She wasn't sure what exactly she could do, but she was going to stay here. There was something for her to do, something that only she could do. Why else would she have that dream? Not even Haru would understand; his hatred for Lucia was too strong.

"Oh, Elie," chuckled Lucia, grabbing her chin roughly. "There is no escaping me. Haven't you learned that yet?"

The brunette glared at him and jerked her chin away. "That's what you think," she spat back. The two remained like that for a few seconds before the blond pulled away and reached into his pocket. Elie watched him carefully afraid that he was pulling out a weapon of some sort.

To her surprise, he had pulled out a thin necklace of sorts. Before she could react, he had grabbed her head and wrapped the band around her neck, latching it with a soft_ click_. "What did you do?" she asked, groping up at it. It was cool to the touch, engraved with some sort of design.

"It is a magic block. It will prevent you from ever attempting to summon Etherion," he explained slyly, smirking. "And, of course, it permits me to know your whereabouts should I ever lose you."

For the first time, the brunette felt the cool chill of fear creep up her spine. _I have to get this thing off!_ she yelled mentally, one hand automatically reaching up to grab it. It was cool to the touch, and Elie knew without having to feel around it that there was no clasp. _No…this is fine. I'm not going anywhere, so what does this matter?_  
>Lucia turned to leave, and Elie followed him without an order. The blond looked at her in confusion, but merely smirked. Elie smiled back up at him widely, showing no fear or hesitation.<p>

A plan was forming in her head, one that was riskier than anything she had ever done. There was no guarantee that it would even work, but it was all she had.  
><em>Haru, I'm sorry…I'm about to do something really stupid. Really, really stupid. I might get killed for it, but it's going to be worth it. If it works…if it works, Haru, you won't have an enemy anymore<em>

_I'm going to draw out the good in Lucia that I _know_ still exists._

~x~

Author's Note: Hey guys! I'm sorry this took so long, and I'm sorry that this is so short. I'll write more for the next chapter, but I really wanted to get this one out and that seemed like a nice place to end it. :D  
>I wonder if anyone can figure what Elie's plan implies…<br>Maybe!  
>Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed! I'll try to get he next one out as fast as I can, I promise~<p> 


	8. Chapter 7: Heart of Darkness

Holding Out For a Hero

~x~

Author's Note: Wow. College is tough. O_o

~x~

Chapter Seven: Heart of Darkness

For days, Elie silently followed Lucia around. Most of his life, it seemed, consisted of more meetings with that same group of men, sans the man that he had killed. For the most part, the blond had ignored Elie's presence, and the brunette began to wonder if she would have been better off locked away.

There was one advantage to her staying near Lucia, however; it gave the brunette all the time she needed to observe him. Oftentimes during those dreadful meetings, Elie would watch as he grew silent, one hand absently stroking the gem of his Dark Bring. If she really focused on it, she could almost hear that God-awful voice running through her mind.

Another advantage was that, as creepy as it sounded, Elie was able to witness Lucia's dreams. He slept in relative peace, and that was just it. During his waking hours, the blond seemed constantly tensed, as if he was always posed for attack. But, when he was asleep, all the tension seeped out of him. It was like looking at another person completely.

Despite all of this, however, the brunette couldn't seem to devise any sort of plan as to how she was going to pull anything off.

An even greater question – _what_ was she going to pull off? She had no idea how to draw out the little bit of good that still resided in Lucia's heart; she wasn't even fully convinced he had any.

Doubt gnawed at her daily, and there were many nights that she would fall asleep with the decision to leave made, only to dream of that anguished look on his face and awaken with renewed determination.

All in all, it was a rather taxing experience.

To make matters worse, they were drawing nearer and nearer to this Hardner man, and Elie could only imagine how little time she had left. Whatever she needed to do, she had to do soon.

X

"Sir, Hardner has requested that you leave at once," reported a soldier one afternoon as the two of them were walking around the castle. It seemed almost romantic, these little walks, but Lucia spent the entirety of them with one hand attached to his Sinclair, and Elie divvied up her time with watching him and taking in the airship.

It was not often that they were interrupted; and even rarer that the interruption were allowed to walk away freely. Lucia, however, seemed too lost in thought to bother pulling out his newly reforged sword. "We are not yet at his door," he said in a steady voice.

Elie glanced at his face, noticing a distant look to his cloudy yellow eyes. "I-I know, sir. I received a message, and it politely asks that…" the soldier paused, glancing down.

"Well?"

"He politely asks that you 'stick your tail between your legs and start running the hell away.'"

Had she not feared for his life, the brunette might have laughed. Most people that worked under Lucia, like Lady Joker, had given him the utmost respect. Whoever this Hardner was, he had gained just an inkling of respect in Elie's eyes.

Lucia chuckled. "What a shame. Do not report back. Just continue moving," he instructed, waving the man away. For a few seconds, the soldier just stood there, staring at his superior. Rumors of the soldiers that reported to Lucia never returning were rampant around the airship; Elie had picked up a few as they walked away the ship.

"Go," she whispered, nudging him gently. Lucia did not notice, and the man quietly scurried off. "Who is Hardner?" she finally asked, unable to contain herself. Her voice was still raw from when he had grabbed her throat, but Elie was pleased to find that she sounded much stronger than she had been lately.

Broken completely from his trance, Lucia turned to look at her. "He is one of my greatest warriors," he explained stiffly, "Gone rogue, apparently. He has one of my Sinclairs, however, so I would like to ensure that your little friend does not take it from him as easily as he had with Doryu (A/N: I don't know if I've explained this before, but I refuse to call any villain 'Drew' .)."

"Aw, the great Lord Lucia is going to check up on one of his inferiors?" teased the brunette, grinning.

The glare that she received from Lucia was enough to make her want to sew her mouth shut. "No," he spat, turning to face her fully, "I am protecting my Sinclairs. Whether Hardner fails is irrelevant. If he does succeed, then he is worthy of the power he now has. If not, then he never was and it was a mistake to have assumed otherwise."

Elie couldn't help but see a certain amount of logic in that, much as she hated the thought. For all his ruthlessness, Lucia did have a level of politics in him.

The two resumed their walking in silence, and though the brunette detested the thought, she felt a fair amount of companionship in it. They walked in complete silence, and whatever words they might have spoken would surely have been filled with hatred and malice, and yet…

_I suppose when you spend enough time with someone, willing or not, they become a part of you. And,_ Elie added mentally, _it is nice to not be alone in the dark._

"I have no interest in fighting the Rave Master now," Lucia suddenly blurted out, sounding frustrated. Elie jumped slightly in shock, but soon realized that he was not speaking to her, but to the sword around his neck. "I already have what I need. What reason is there to destroy the Rave Master in body when I have surely already done so in spirit?"

Silence followed, but judging by the irritated flicker of his eyes, Elie assumed that the Mother Dark Bring had argued. "Then when the rest of this world is gone, so he shall be. So long as I have Etherion in my grasp, I have no need to kill him. He will die with the rest of the scum; he is no more special than they," he snapped, sounding even more irritated than before.

Without warning, the blond cried out as if he had been struck and fell to his knees. In horror, Elie watched as he writhed on the ground, clutching his head tightly. "Lucia?" asked Elie softly, leaning away.

Just as suddenly as it had started, the blond settled. Taking deep breaths, he picked himself off the floor, leaning against the nearest wall from his knees. "Yes, Mother," he gasped, more contempt in his voice than Elie had ever heard from him.

The scene was over and done with in perhaps no more than thirty seconds, but the brunette knew without question that it was vastly significant to her cause. "What just happened?" she asked, reaching out to him.

"Don't touch me," he snarled in reply, slapping her hand away. He was like a wounded animal, frustrated and hurt at the abuse of his owner. Elie felt a pang in her stomach as she realized how accurate the analogy truly was. "And don't ask questions. It is not your place to know what the Mother Dark Bring desires of me."

Even with that declaration, he did not move further from his knees. His torso quivered just slightly, enough to reveal a deep-seeded pain. "Why do you listen to that thing?" she asked softly, her voice dripping with pity.

Lucia must have detected the pity in her voice, for he quickly stood up and whacked her away. "I cannot argue with Mother," he said. "Her word is law."

It was almost eerie, Elie decided. Not even a minute ago, he was on the floor writhing around in pain caused by the damn stone, and now he was saying that her word was law. "You were just arguing her word a second ago," Elie pointed out, following him closely. The blond did not answer, lost again in thought.

"I do as Mother instructs."

The brunette stumbled, caught off guard on how much of a drone he sounded. "Do you even hear yourself?" she asked, catching up to him quickly. "It sounds like you don't even want to do what she says!"

Before Elie could think of anything more to say, he reached out and pinned to the wall by her neck. Not enough to truly worry her, but enough to restrict her breathing and, thus, silencing her. "You know _nothing_," he hissed in her ear, anger flickering in those yellow eyes. Elie met his gaze as evenly as she could given the circumstances, keeping the two locked in that cruel embrace for several seconds before he finally threw her down.

"I know what a Dark Bring does to a heart," she gasped out, clutching her throat. Admittedly, she was growing increasingly tired of this abuse, but she was determined to stay until this was done. "I've…I've seen it. Saw what it did to Go."

The blond didn't answer, moving away from her to continue his walk. "I know what you are, Lucia!" she suddenly cried out, using all the strength she could muster up into her voice.

"Oh?" demanded Lucia, swiveling on his heel and walking back to her. His sword was in hand now, and he pressed the blade near her neck to intimidate her. "And what am I, Elie? A monster? A devil? Please, _enlighten me_!"

"You're just a scared little boy that wants his mommy!"

Fury enveloped any trace of amusement the blond had had and he grabbed her neck and heaved her up, slamming her against the wall. "I am _not_ a boy!" he screeched, stabbing the sword into the wall next to her head. "I am Lucia Raregroove, heir to the great and powerful Raregroove Empire; I am the Lord of Demon Card. _I am the Dark Bring Master_!"

Elie wasn't sure, but she was beginning to think she had hit a nerve. "You're a puppet!" she choked out, her fingernails scratching at what she could of his hands. "You're being used by the Sinclair!"

"Silence!" he screamed, pressing his nose close to hers, but Elie wasn't done yet.

"Sinclair found you when you were young and weak and scared and hurt and it picked you to be it's puppet!

"Sinclair isn't your mother!"

It was the last thing that Elie could manage to get out before he tightened his grip and the only noise that the brunette could make was a gagging-gurgling sort of sound. Spots began to appear in her vision, and for the first time she believed that he was actually about to kill her. However, just when she didn't think she could take any more of it, he threw her to the ground.

Relief was short-lived, though, as he slammed his foot down on her chest and brought his sword down on her. The blade pierced through her arm as if it was cutting paper, and if Elie could have, she would have screamed. "You know _nothing_!" screamed Lucia, a manic look in his eyes. "Sinclair chose me and saved me from the dark! Mother has given my life purpose when I thought I had none! Do not dare to insult Mother, you wretched wench!"

"You know I'm right," gasped Elie, refusing to give up. She wasn't going to let this go. She wasn't going to give up. "Let…let me help you."

Just like that, all the fight drained out of him. He stumbled backwards, allowing his sword to clatter to the floor, soon following it. "Wh-what?" he asked softly, his yellow eyes wide. Elie coughed and picked herself up, reminding herself that she had suffered worse injuries and stood.

"I can help," she said again, kneeling in front of him. "I can. You…you just have to…let me."

Gently, she reached out and placed her quivering hand over his shaking one. His eyes did not leave hers, nor did he blink, but a single tear began to slide down his cheek. Behind the hate and anger in his eyes, Elie knew that somewhere deep down, there cried a little boy, only wanting salvation from the dark. "You don't have to be alone anymore," she whispered, gripping his hand.

Something broke in Lucia right then, and he threw himself at her, sobbing into her shoulder. The brunette did not gasp in pain, but wrapped her arms around him tightly and gave him the comfort that he had always needed.

Lucia Raregroove was a man. No human being was capable of not giving into the temptation of darkness; even Haru, a being of light, had fallen to the Ninth Form's Darkness. To put a child in the darkest of prisons and expect him to come out as fine as he was when he went in was madness. The Sinclair had taken his mind and controlled it, used his body for what it could not accomplish alone.

And Elie had done the impossible. She had reached in and pulled out the human in him that still existed.

An unexpected surge of affection flooded through Elie as she comforted him, one that she could not place. It was not the same magnitude that she felt for Haru or Musica, but enough that Elie knew she would carry it with her forever. "I can help you," she whispered to him softly, gently rubbing his back.

Finally, after what seemed like a century, Lucia rose and wiped his eyes. "Thank you, Elie," he said hoarsely, not meeting her gaze, "You're right. The Mother Dark Bring was just…using me. But, no longer."

Just as he said it, a great quake shook the ship and caused the two to fall. Lucia dove under Elie and shielded her from falling on his blade, holding her against his chest tightly. Despite herself, the brunette found herself blushing brightly.

"All units to the main deck. The Rave Master is infiltrating the ship. I repeat, all units to the main deck…"

"Haru!" Elie said happily, a smile spreading across her face. "Lucia, this is it! Haru and the others, they can help too!" she said, "Come with me. We'll leave together and they'll make it better."

The blond looked at her incredulously for a second, but nodded. The two quickly stood up and, hand in hand, ran through the flying ship towards the main deck.

* * *

><p>"Where are you, Lucia?!" screamed Haru, taking down several men at once. This was their last chance before confronting Hardner; it had to be now. Even if he could not fight Lucia and win, he could at least rescue Elie.<p>

"I don't see him," Musica called back, fighting next to him. "Maybe he's waiting for you to come to him?"

"I see them!" screamed Let suddenly. Haru bashed a guy to the floor and turned to find where Let was. He stood on a raised platform with his hand extended. "There! The two of them are…running together."

Haru scowled. "Must be a trick," he decided, searching for them. From his vantage point, he couldn't see either of them, but he knew that they were there. It was enough. "ELIE!" he screamed over the noise of everything.

_I'm coming!_

* * *

><p>"Stay here," Elie instructed, stopping Lucia. He looked at her curiously for a second before glancing at the crowd of soldiers. It wasn't a big army, not even enough to stop Haru alone. "If they see you come with me, they'll just attack you. Let me go ahead and explain that you're coming along."<p>

Reluctantly, Lucia nodded, squeezing her hand. "I trust you," he breathed. It was unlike anything he had ever felt, this sense of…_feeling_. Emotions that he thought were long gone flooded up to the surface, threatening to take control of him. Instinctively, he fought against it, but something about Elie's trust made him pause.

As she ran ahead, he watched her. She was much more than just the Etherion User, he decided. She was a human – and a beautiful one at that. A light in the darkness. Lucia smiled – a real, genuine smile – and reached up to touch his lips.

_What strange feelings…_

* * *

><p>"Guys!" Elie cried happily, running towards them. They had taken down every soldier that had made it to the main deck, so it was a straight shot. "Guys!"<p>

They all came running at her, dropping their weapons. Musica reached her first, embracing her tightly. He hugged her so fiercely; she was half-convinced that he would break her in two. "C-careful," she gasped, still weak from Lucia's attack a mere fifteen minutes prior. The silverclaimer laughed and loosened his grip, but kept a firm arm around her. "Where's Haru?"

To answer her question, Lucia screamed.

All the hairs on the back of her neck stood straight, and the brunette began to struggle against Musica's embrace. "Lucia?" she asked softly, her eyes finding him.

Haru stood over his body, the Ten Commandments dripping in blood. There was something beautifully terrifying about the way Haru stood over him; intense, serious, and for the first time in his life, heartless.

Musica quickly grabbed her and began running back towards their ship, shouting commands out to the others. Elie heard nothing, saw nothing except for the look of confusion on Lucia's face.

_He was good! He was going to give it all up and start a new leaf – start over!_ Elie kept on screaming in her head, hot tears burning down her cheeks. _I don't understand…I don't get it!_

Before she knew it, she was buckled away in a much smaller air-carrier. They were leaving. Just like that. Come in, heartlessly stab an innocent man, and leave. Anger exploded inside of her chest for just a second before it quickly dissipated. She had to see him again. Had to try to remedy what had just happened.

Suddenly, she yanked the chain off her neck and gripped it in her palm. "Wait!" she screamed, her voice cutting through the orders. "I left my necklace back in the room he kept me in."

Musica and a tall blonde woman turned to look at her. "I can't leave it behind. Please," she added, knowing that the desperation in her eyes would be misread entirely. "I know my way around. I'll be there and back again in ten minutes flat."

"I'll go with you," the woman offered, standing up.

"No!" cried the brunette, already half way out of the ship. "I know where I'm going. You'll just slow me down," she explained, shouldering open the door and jumping out before they could argue. Her feet hit the ground after a second of drop, and she crumbled. _No time!_ she reminded herself hotly, breaking into a sprint.

The others were all gone, waiting for Musica to take them off. The airship, glancing back at it, was larger than just a small carrier, but not near the size of Lucia's flying fortress. There were no windows that she could see, so she forced herself to run faster, necklace cutting into her hand.

Lucia was not where he had last been, but a sickening trail of blood remained. The brunette didn't think about it, she just followed it about forty feet to where he had finally collapsed entirely. The sight was heartbreaking – Lucia on his stomach, clutching a wound that she could not see, staring at her with only a trace of consciousness.

"Lucia," Elie breathed, sliding down next to him. He twitched slightly at his name, and his eyes flickered to her.

As carefully as she could, she turned him over and laid his head on her lap. His hand clutched a bleeding wound in his stomach, but Elie knew that it wouldn't kill him. He was too strong for that, and Haru was too kind. "You…you said that they would help…" he gasped out, his eyes accusing.

Elie looked down for a second to compose herself before responding. "I didn't expect Haru to just come running at you," she explained tearfully, stroking his cheek.  
>"I…I should have…known," he wheezed, coughing violently. "The bad guy…never gets the girl."<p>

"That's not true!"

Elie had said to reassure him that it wasn't over, to remind him that it didn't have to be this way. However, as soon as the words were out of her mouth, she knew that she meant it.

In some way, she still hated Lucia. She hated all that he had done to her, and Haru, and everyone else in the world that he had harmed. Yet, at the same time, she loved him for all that he could be. She loved Lucia Raregroove because it was what he needed more than anything else in the entire world.

"G-go," he breathed, closing his eyes, as if the mere sight of Elie was harming him. When Elie did not move, tears began to fall from his eyes and he more forcefully pushed her away. "Go!"

No matter how much she hated it, Elie couldn't resist it. She had failed. The darkness would swallow Lucia whole and destroy the beam of hope she had given. No…not the darkness. Not the same darkness that had once controlled him. This would be voluntary. This would be a much different type of darkness; this would be the darkness brought only by lack of hope.

But, even so, she could not leave him there, not like this. Nervously, she leaned down close to his ashen cheeks and, with her heart fluttering like a butterfly, pressed her lips against his.

The kiss was soft and gentle, nothing at all like the last one they shared. Although he did not respond, he gave no resistance at all to it, save for a slight twitch at first. It was over in just a few seconds, but the brunette knew that she had left an impression on him. "I'm so sorry," she whispered once more before dropping the necklace on his chest and rushing off.

Each step she took caused another fracture in her heart until, by the time she reached the airship, she fell to her knees with an anguished cry.  
>The last thing she saw was Haru throwing open the door and his mouth open in angered surprise, and then…nothing.<p>

* * *

><p>Never before had Lucia felt a hatred so extreme in his life. It boiled hot in his blood, forcing his limbs to move without his consent. He called forth his blade and, with tears in his eyes, followed Elie's retreating figure.<p>

Somewhere in the blackhole that was his heart, he knew that it was not her fault. She had sincerely wanted to help.

_Did I not tell you this would happen? The light…when has it even been kind to you? When has it ever done you well? It rejected you for no reason, and now it has done this to you._

Lucia scowled at the retreating figure, silently prowling behind her, ignoring the nagging voice in his head. It was all he had known since he was six; it was all he would ever know. Sinclair was the one true constant in his life; Mother would never leave him so long as he was loyal to her.

_Yes, yes! Feel that rage and hatred… Look at what the girl has done to you! She has been nothing but trouble since you first snatched her away. Make her suffer in all the ways that she has made you suffer, my child!_

The blond cried out in rage, and reared back the bulky sword. Elie stopped just by the airship, only for a second, but just enough for the Dark Bring Master to lunge forward and pierce her feeble body with the sword, just as Haru had done to him not long ago.

The brunette cried out and collapsed to the ground. As she fell, he pulled the blade free and jerked it to the right to fling some of the blood off of it. Haru stood in the entryway of the ship, staring at the scene with wide eyes. "Elie!" he screamed, jumping down and kneeling next to her. "You bastard!"

His words meant nothing to him. Lucia stared down at him with a face of uncaring, a face devoid of any emotion other than malice. "Take her," he spat, flicking saliva down at her, "She is of no use to me anymore."

That said, he turned around and began to walk away, wiping away the trail of blood leading from his lips.

_Good boy… Mother is proud of you. You are the Dark Bring Master; you are the embodiment of darkness itself! Together…together, my dear, we shall exterminate this surreal existence and create a world where all is right again!_

Lucia smirked and nodded curtly. There could be no other way.

There would never be any other way.

As he walked, he spotted the necklace that she had left on his chest, laying on the floor where it had fallen off. As he walked by it, he made sure that his right foot stomped on it, breaking it pieces.

~x~

Author's Note: I really like how this chapter turned out, actually. I actually wrote this entire chapter in about five days, starting on Thursday, working through Friday, not writing at all during the weekend (I don't know why) and then again yesterday and today.  
>:D<br>It has a lot of stuff happening in it, but there was no way to draw any of it out long enough to break it up. Well, there could be.  
>But I like how it turned out.<br>This isn't the end of it, though! I'm thinking maybe another two or three more chapters to wrap it all up and end it.  
>:D Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed~<p> 


End file.
